Simulation of E-procurement with XML

Targeting the market of high quality products, we have developed an e-Procurement system that simplifies the procurement process and the product data management for both buyer and supplier, on the condition that the relationship is of a long-term, trustworthy nature. Via a web-based frontend the supplier can edit his own product data in the database of the buyer. He is responsible for keeping the buyers' data congruent with his own. The benefits for the supplier are timeliness and efficiency in the update of the product database and propagation of the information to the customers. The buyer reduces cost by shifting the data management task to the supplier. Additional benefits are derived from the functionalities of the procurement interface, such as multiple access to products and automation of orders. XML-based technology is used for the specification and the representation of data exchanged between buyer and supplier. The processes on the buyers' product database are implemented with PHP. Simulation of this solution in a small scale network has shown that the prototype is completely operable. User tests on the usability of the interface delivered positive results.