Hubwoo Announces Next Generation Business Network

PARIS, Nov. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Hubwoo SA (Euronext: HBW.NX), a leading collaborative business network provider, today announced availability of its next generation business process collaboration network, The Business Network.  The Business Network has evolved from an enterprise class B2B eCommerce platform, founded in 1999, to today's leading multi-enterprise collaboration network that connects over one million global businesses.  It offers companies a new and smarter way to search, connect, and collaborate across procurement, marketing, selling, and finance business processes.  The result is a step change in savings, operational efficiency, and revenue for global companies of all sizes.

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New capabilities include the launch of Hubwoo's Market Smarter business process which offers sellers the ability to differentiate themselves quickly and more effectively than static directories, traditional online advertising, and expensive paid search programs.  The Business Network upgrade also adds intelligent commerce functionality to the Invoice Smarter and Pay Smarter processes, as well as cross-business process enhancements for automated supplier enablement and master data exchange between the network and companies' on-premise systems.

The Business Network has over one million registered business members including buying organizations such as Honeywell, Shell, Evonik, Nationwide Building Society, Nokia, BASF, Hillshire Brands, Royal Bank of Canada, and EDF. These enterprises leverage The Business Network to realize a step change in savings in their sourcing, buying and paying business processes.  For sellers such as Schweitzer, a supplier of professional information and publications, Hubwoo's Business Network increases access to global buying organizations.  "We won more than EUR 2 million of additional business, where Hubwoo opened the door for us," stated Alexander Graff, PM, eProcurement, at Schweitzer.

Intelligent, collaborative processes within The Business Network include:

Market Smarter:
Functions include:

• A dynamic company profile in The Business Network so businesses can be found by qualified buyers, much like professionals are found on LinkedIn
• Context sensitive, intelligent advertising so businesses can market where real commerce is happening
• A public catalog to present companies' products and services to a global audience

A recent study by Aberdeen Group, predicts that by 2013, 40 percent of suppliers will be identified through business network platforms.

Sell Smarter:
Order-to-cash process collaboration, in the cloud, that enables sellers to receive and manage orders electronically from buyers on The Business Network.

• Embeds sellers in the buying process of their customers for greater repeat business
• Enables sellers to collaborate with customers electronically regarding price, availability, orders, shipping and receipts

Invoice Smarter:
Invoice presentment and management for sellers that is both efficient and legally compliant.

• Pre-matching business logic ensures that when sellers present electronic invoices any errors are known and resolved instantly for faster processing and fewer errors
• Legal compliance and digital signatures assure that invoices meet over 38 country-specific standards
• Real-time invoice & payment status available on-demand through the network, even for invoices delivered offline

Source Smarter:
Access to standardized business data on over one million global businesses.

• Finds businesses by category or keyword and provides quantitative, qualitative, and dynamic information, similar to researching business professionals on LinkedIn
• Cloud sourcing applications with a seamless link to on-premise enterprise systems

Buy Smarter:
Cloud procurement processes that enable a step change in spend under management and contract compliance.

• Electronically enables all of a business' qualified suppliers, guaranteed through Hubwoo's managed on-boarding service
• Simple and intuitive experience for requisitioners that makes finding and ordering on-contract as easy as a visit to Amazon.com
• Turns a legacy ERP system into a requisitioning tool via a simple skin and The Business Network, without having to invest in a new eProcurement system.

Pay Smarter:
Cloud solution that fixes both paper invoice and timely invoice approval problems, clearing the way for strategic savings on early payment discounts.

• 100 percent electronic invoice presentment
• Intelligence that allows buyers to define rules and tolerances at the invoice presentment source, heading off errors before they arrive at accounts payable
• Invoice matching and approval solution which streamlines invoice approval based on rules, validations and workflow
• Service entry sheet management including goods, services, and rate cards
• Invoice and payment status information online on The Business Network for 100 percent of a company's suppliers.  Enables dramatic reductions in status inquiries so accounts payable departments can free up staff to focus on strategic activities

CONSOL Energy has realized a step change in value by reducing its blocked invoices from 60 percent down to only 6 percent.

Intelligence Across Business Processes:
Master Data Exchange is a bridge between the cloud and companies' on-premise enterprise systems.

• Ensures that user records, suppliers, contracts, catalog data, accounting information, budgets, and workflows are always up-to-date, approved and available for use
• Supplier Master Sync enables buyers to push supplier profile management to the network.  Suppliers eliminate costly ordering errors and payment delays
• Item Master Sync allows for easier maintenance of item master records for products and services updated by suppliers through The Business Network

As Facebook is for social collaboration and LinkedIn is for professional collaboration, The Business Network is for business collaboration.  Hubwoo helps over one million businesses position themselves for significant improvements in revenue, efficiency and savings.

About Hubwoo (www.hubwoo.com)

Hubwoo is a leading collaborative business network provider that manages The Business Network with over one million registered businesses including major international corporations as buyer customers.  Significant customers include BASF, Honeywell, Shell, Evonik, EDF, Nokia, Monsanto, Nationwide, Michelin, Henkel, Statoil, CONSOL Energy, EcoPetrol, Campbell's, Burton's Foods, and The Dow Chemical Company.

Hubwoo has major operations in France, multiple U.S. centers, Germany, the U.K., Philippines, Belgium, and Eastern Europe.Listed in Compartment C on the Euronext Paris Eurolist.

ISIN: FR0004052561, Euronext: HBW, Reuters: HBWO.PA, Bloomberg: HBW:FP

SOURCE Hubwoo