Forum™ enables seamless flow of information between supply chain members. It comprises of the following parts:

Client Application, which consists of:

A Micro-ERP : This enables supply chain participants (Clearing & Forwarding Agents, stockists/distributors, wholesalers, retailers) to manage their purchases, sales and inventory. The micro-ERP also has comprehensive reports on all these areas including trade credit etc.

An interface between the Micro-ERP and the internet : This extracts and updates business data in the Micro-ERP. It manages electronic exchange of business documents with trading partners through the Internet. The business documents follow the XML framework and are encrypted for security.

Central Server

‘Forum Central ™ hosted by Sify coordinates all information exchange between supply chain partners. Forum Central™ executes business rules and processes for validating, formatting and delivering business documents among trading partners. It also helps users track documents while in transit. Trading partners can also publish their product lists (catalogs) on Forum Central ™, and download partners' Item Masters including Product Codes etc. This gives an easy-to-use platform for ensuring that all supply chain partners use uniform Item Codes.

The client component is a standalone application, which resides on the client machine. It has a simple graphical user interface for easy operations. The interaction between the Micro-ERP and its internet interface is using APIs that helps easier integration and customization. Data exchange is using XML.

The business documents (XML documents) are encrypted and contain necessary header information. The client application connects to Forum Central ™ through the Internet to upload documents for routing. It also checks for incoming documents and downloads the same from its mailbox maintained on Forum Central ™ .