GAITHERSBURG, Md. and SHANGHAI, China, April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- GXS, a leading provider of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce solutions, today announced the launch of China eHealthcare Exchange, a B2B e-commerce platform for China's pharmaceutical industry. Based on GXS Enterprise Gateway software technology, China eHealthcare Exchange was established via a partnership between GXS and Shanghai Agile Supply Chain Information System Company Limited ("Agile Supply Chain"), China's leading supply chain solutions provider. The platform is intended to improve the efficiency of China's pharmaceutical industry by providing the participants with an affordable, easy-to-use, B2B e-commerce solution for electronic transaction processing.
By migrating away from manual processes in their B2B transactions, Chinese pharmaceutical companies can achieve greater supply chain visibility within their industry. Sinopharm Medicine Holding Co., Ltd. ("Sinopharm"), the largest pharmaceutical distributor in China, is already using the platform to increase visibility into its supply chain operations.
"As one of the largest pharmaceutical distributors in China, we are honored to be the first user of China eHealthcare Exchange," said Ma Wan Jun, general manager of the Distribution Division of Sinopharm. "The importance of this initiative is multifold -- it has distinct and significant implications for not only improving visibility into our supply chain, but also will speed the order-to-cash process and will make us a more efficient business partner. China eHealthcare Exchange also can help us increase market responsiveness, improve warehouse management and drive profits and competitiveness in the industry."
China eHealthcare Exchange leverages Agile Supply Chain's healthcare market knowledge and GXS' global B2B e-commerce expertise and technology. Pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors and retailers now are able to connect with China eHealthcare Exchange via their company's enterprise resource planning (ERP) or warehouse management systems to perform standardized electronic data exchange. They also can synchronize product information, share information on product development and monitor the status of transactions.
"Supply chain efficiency is an enormous problem in China's pharmaceutical industry due to the geographic distribution of manufacturers and distributors throughout the country. In addition, information systems among companies vary and there is no standardized pharmacy product code and data format," said Yang Jing Yu, CEO of Agile Supply Chain. "While the pharmaceutical industry in China is seeing tremendous growth, there are strong voices requesting lower prices for medications. Agile Supply Chain and GXS established China eHealthcare Exchange to provide supply chain protocol and visibility services to the players in the industry. This is exactly the right timing for such an endeavor."
GXS Enterprise Gateway provides customers with global business integration capabilities, enabling them to achieve 100 percent integration with business partners and to automate interactions throughout their trading communities. Its benefits include a single unified platform that manages current business integration needs that can be expanded as business needs grow and evolve. GXS Enterprise Gateway also provides real-time supply chain visibility and trading partner network optimization.
"In this transforming stage of the Chinese pharmaceutical industry, supply chain efficiency is a key factor to establishing and maintaining competitiveness. Taking the pharmaceutical development trend in western countries and Japan as an example, we believe manufacturers will outsource supply chain management to leading distributors," said Raymond Teh, vice president of Asia-Pacific at GXS. "At the same time, we expect drug stores to grow rapidly over the next five years, making integration between retailers and distributors a top priority. China eHealthcare Exchange will enable visibility capabilities throughout the pharmaceutical supply chain, providing a solid platform for this growth and development."
About Sinopharm Medicine Holding Co. Ltd.
Sinopharm Medicine Holding Co., Ltd. ("Sinopharm Holdings") was established in January 2003 in Shanghai. Sinopharm Holdings' core business is pharmacy distribution, financed by China Pharmacy Group and Shanghai Foshing Technology Company Limited. Sinopharm Holdings also owns several pharmacy enterprise groups in different industries such as logistics, retail stores, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and chemical testing. Its registered asset is RMB1.637 billion, with 22 subsidiaries and more than 10,000 employees. Its sales revenue reached RMB23.5 billion in 2006.
About Agile Supply Chain
Agile Supply Chain is a leading supply chain protocol products and services provider. It has established a large scale data center and contingency backup center in China. Headquartered in Shanghai, China, Agile Supply Chain provides visibility solutions to major enterprises and business partners in China (suppliers, distributors and retailers). For more information, please visit http://www.agilesc.com.
About GXS
GXS is a leading global provider of B2B e-commerce solutions that simplify and enhance business process integration and collaboration among trading partners. Organizations worldwide, including 75 percent of the Fortune 500, leverage the on-demand services on GXS Trading Grid(R) to extend supply chain networks, optimize product launches, automate warehouse receiving, manage electronic payments and gain supply chain visibility. GXS Managed Services, GXS' B2B outsourcing solution, empowers customers with the expertise, technical infrastructure and program support to conduct B2B e-commerce with trading partners globally.
Based in Gaithersburg, Md., GXS has an extensive global network and has local offices in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions. GXS can be found on the Web at http://www.gxs.com.
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