Sigma-Aldrich's Web Customers Get Real-Time Access To Product, Pricing, Order Information Thanks To Haht Software
Sigma-Aldrich is the largest provider of chemicals used by researchers and chemists in university, government and commercial labs throughout the world. As the logical first step in an aggressive e-commerce initiative, Sigma-Aldrich's e-commerce site had to be linked with critical back-end enterprise systems, including SAP R/3, in order to provide real-time product, pricing, availability and order information to customers and to avoid having customer service representatives intimately involved in every Web transaction. HAHT facilitated real-time integration between Sigma-Aldrich's e-commerce site and back-end enterprise systems that store critical customer and product information, giving customers access to timely and relevant information and enabling the company to increase productivity and automation by eliminating the need for customer service representatives to manually re-enter online orders.
"We recognized early the potential that the Web brings to our customers," said Shaf Yousaf, vice president of marketing at Sigma-Aldrich. "Through HAHT, we can now offer our customers the same level of service and support regardless of whether they interact with us on the Web or through a customer service representative on the phone. Now customers get real-time data, and know whether the product they are ordering is available and when it will ship. We think this new level of service and interactivity further demonstrates our commitment to using technology to make our customer's lives easier." "Sigma-Aldrich customers are driven by a million-dollar a day opportunity cost of getting new drugs to market," said Rowland Archer, president and CEO of HAHT Software. "With HAHT's help, Sigma-Aldrich's e-commerce initiative lets customers order with the assurance that the chemicals they need to continue their research are in stock and provides them with complete awareness of the delivery schedule. B2B e-commerce is about guaranteeing service levels and selling to long term customers, quite a different world from online retailers selling shirts. HAHT understands the difference and with our help, our customers are poised to be the B2b e-commerce leaders."
The flexibility and open-architecture of HAHT Commerce e-Scenario product family enabled Sigma-Aldrich to retain its existing site, while facilitating interaction with company's SAP R/3 system, storing financial, pricing and inventory information. Sigma-Aldrich already had made a significant investment in putting its product catalog and material safety data sheet information On-line. A key factor in choosing HAHT was its ability to help Sigma preserve that investment while also integrating with their SAP R/3 system for order entry, order status and fulfillment. HAHT's Universal Integration layer allows a Web-based customer to easily search the On-line product catalog, and, based on information stored in SAP/R/3, check availability of inventory, place an order and check on the real-time status of their order.
About Sigma-Aldrich
Sigma-Aldrich develops, manufactures and distributes the broadest range of high quality biochemicals, organic chemicals, chromatography products and diagnostic reagents available in the world. The Company's products are used in high-tech research and development in universities and industry, in the diagnosis of disease, and as specialty chemicals for pharmaceutical and other manufacturing purposes in more than 160 countries. Sigma-Aldrich is committed to the success of its customers through science, technology and service.
About HAHT Software
HAHT Software, Inc. is a privately-held company headquartered in Raleigh, NC. HAHT provides the applications, services and platform necessary for companies to conduct real e-business. The company develops and markets HAHT Commerce e-Scenarios, prepackaged applications that support the entire business-to-business sales lifecycle of e-businesses, and the HAHTsite platform, currently being used by hundreds of companies for their most challenging e-solutions. HAHT maintains more than 25 alliances, including alliances with SAP, Novell and Microsoft, as well implementation partnerships with Arthur Andersen, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Consulting and Plaut Consulting.