The external integration occurs between organizational components. These are
components within the same company or they belong to different companies. The external
integration includes the exchange of information with customers and suppliers at the same
time, as well as activities carried out through intermediaries. In the traditional trade, each
customer and each supplier can be automatized at an internal level, by connecting the
systems using manual processes such as the mail, fax or telephone. Through the web page
of the shop, the customer can see the supplier's catalogue of goods and services and can
place orders directly in the system. Nothing is necessarily automatized in what the
customer is concerned. In the case of an electronic commerce portal, the customers enter
the portal in order to see the supplier's catalogue and to place orders. The suppliers enter
the same website in order to see the orders and to honour them. Within the electronic
integrated commerce, the systems of the various companies exchange information directly,
which eliminates the manual processes