The n-Tier Hub technology

During 2001, the Enterprise Engineering Laboratory at George Mason University was contracted by the Boeing Company to develop an eHub capability for aerospace suppliers in Taiwan. In a laboratory environment, the core technology was designed, developed, and tested, and now a large first-tier aerospace supplier in Taiwan is commercializing the technology. The project objective was to provide layered network and application services for transporting XML-based business transaction flows across multi-tier, heterogeneous data processing environments. This paper documents the business scenario, the eHub application, and the network transport mechanisms that were used to build the n-tier hub. Contrary to most eHubs, this solution takes the point of view of suppliers, pushing data in accordance with supplier requirements; hence, enhancing the probability of supplier adoption. The unique contribution of this project is the development of an eHub that meets the needs of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and first-tier suppliers.