Burlington, MA October 1, 2001 Transportation procurement and management technology provider Logistics.com Inc. today introduced Logistics Event Management Architecture (LEMA). LEMA was developed as an open, standards-based and user-driven architecture to empower a better flow of information among supply chain and logistics community members, as well as adjacent industry participants, such as providers of information technology and services.
LEMA enables three different processes: intra- and inter-enterprise application integration; the free flow of information; and the reduction of cycle time in processing logistics events, such as simultaneous offer and acceptance of shipment moves. Through the adoption of LEMA, multiple organizations can process the same logistics event, through independent work-flows, and customize their own specific view of that event's activity.
In addition, LEMA addresses five critical logistics industry-specific business issues that represent the context in which logistics events execute:
§ Business objects, such as distances, locations and facilities, trucks and ocean and air containers
§ Relationship rules and time components that make up the process of contract management
§ Business rules, or rules that define the business processes associated with execution of events
§ Event monitoring and exception management capabilities, such as rejected load scenarios
§ Integration of various business processes, which is addressed by tXML [Logistics.com's own Web language it developed with its customers to enable standard application integration among all members of a logistics chain as well as intra-enterprise requirements between legacy and new systems.]
"We have already established the LEMA set of standards with many Logistics.com customers," said John Lanigan, CEO of Logistics.com. "Those standards are operating today, and we are now seeking to expand LEMA participation through the endorsement of the standards bodies. Our customers realize that transportation is the critical link that bridges all parties within today's mission-critical supply chains. It is the trigger for financial information and other flows and is responsible for coordination, visibility and optimization across and within organizations."
"The fragmented nature of the logistics and transportation industries makes them perfect candidates for a standards-based initiative like Logistics.com's LEMA," said Romala Ravi, senior analyst, eLogistics Services for IDC. "The lack of standards has been one of the key barriers to the rapid adoption of e-logistics services. Through the introduction of LEMA, Logistics.com is responding to shippers' demands for more open, standards-based initiatives."