GAITHERSBURG, Md. - GE Global eXchange Services has added new capabilities to its PetroDEX data exchange for the U.S. petroleum industry. The new capabilities include Web-based data management and backoffice integration components that will enable petroleum companies to reduce costs and increase profitability through improved supply chain efficiency.

PetroDEX, operated and hosted by GXS, helps petroleum companies manage information associated with the shipment and delivery of gasoline and other refined petroleum products. PetroDEX claims to serves every major U.S. refining company, and says that it handles more than 50 million transactions annually.

PetroDEX's new capabilities will help companies to simplify transactions, enhance customer service and automate labor-intensive processes, it says. Available now, these capabilities include Total Reconciliation, allowing companies to use the Web to more efficiently collaborate on the direct exchange of petroleum products, thereby reducing time-consuming error corrections and eliminating the need for costly in-house reconciliation systems. It also offers Chained Equity-since petroleum products often pass through several suppliers or marketers before reaching the final customer, this Web-based service enables refiners to reduce time to market by authorizing the entire chain of recipients in advance. And it offers backoffice integration, enabling the time-saving transfer of data directly to PetroDEX from enterprise systems using Internet protocols such as file transfer protocol and simple object access protocol.

GXS, Gaithersburg, Md., operates a major business-to-business e-commerce network with more than 100,000 trading partners in 58 countries. The network's 1 billion annual transactions account for $1 trillion in goods and services. It is a part of General Electric Co. U.S.A.