Electronic commerce supplier GE Information Services Inc has been trialing a system to enable small trading businesses to take advantage of the internet and electronic commerce via traditional EDI electronic data interchange systems. The company, a subsidiary of General Electric Co, has tested the system with UK supermarket giant Tesco Plc and Kingcup Mushrooms of Telford, Shropshire. GE found Kingcup, an organization with some 30 employees, was able to carry out its order purchasing invoices and payments via the Internet, with just a personal computer, a modem and an internet browser, and GE supplying the EDI connection. Although the company doesn’t have a decisive plan at the moment, Andy Robson, GE’s director of corporate affairs in the UK said at present the company is content to know it can be done. GE, which recently entered into a partnership with Netscape Communications Corp, has carried out this trial initially in the UK , but similar operations are under way in the US and Europe and it says it will decide how to market the value added network service commercially in the near future. Robson said: We’ve proved it can work so we will be looking over the next couple of years to implement it on a permanent basis.
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