iWork Software has launched its new Business Integration Suite, a workflow-enabled solution aimed at manufacturers. The solution seamlessly integrates information from all kinds of systems across the entire manufacturing value chain. From customers to production facilities, in and out of enterprise systems and across the supplier network, transactions are transformed to standard documents and instantly transferred following process models that can be changed easily and quickly to meet evolving business needs.

“To enter e-business confidently and efficiently, manufacturers must be able to integrate information and business processes with customer and supplier systems,” said Ken Hamlin, CTO at iWork. “That requires not only the transfer, but also the transformation of data. We’ve created an industrial strength business integration product that does both. This instantaneous transfer and transformation of data strengthens customer relationships, optimizes supply chains, streamlines business processes, and improves return on all technology investments.”

The product includes several significant new features:

* Parallel process workflow. Allows a single business transaction to be processed in multiple ways simultaneously rather than the standard serial workflow process. More work can be accomplished faster because parallel processes more accurately model real-world conditions.

* Durable integration. ‘Message bus’ architecture simplifies and stabilizes integration and the Business Integration Suite supports the many communications standards manufacturers must use to work within and across enterprises. Choosing transport tools and connecting to applications is automated through the product’s ‘Adapter Wizard’.

* Visual tools. Drag and drop control allows users to ‘draw’ a series of transactions such as order entry, deploy it on a choice of platforms, and execute it with a few clicks of a mouse. Users can also change a workflow as fast as it’s edited on the screen.