IFS` strong e-business momentum continues to increase with two new contracts to deliver IT solutions for Internet marketplaces. Manufacturing-trade.com, based in Munich, Germany, will trade surplus manufacturing capacity, while BlueBolt Networks, in the US, will provide a virtual work environment for the commercial interior designers.
With the latest orders, IFS has delivered software solutions to eight marketplaces in four countries. These marketplaces serve a variety of industries including textiles, meat, construction material, transport services, and packaging materials. IFS has packaged the functionality for marketplaces into a standard component, IFS/eMarkets, now being offered in the newly released IFS Applications 2001.
Mark Klein, Venture Manager at manufacturing-trade.com, explained his company`s reasons for choosing IFS, "We want manufacturing-trade.com to become the leading Internet marketplace for trading excess capacity of industrial machines. There are great benefits: manufacturers can improve the load of their existing machines, customers can postpone new investments - and more capital can be allocated to the core processes. We chose IFS as a partner because the company possesses comprehensive know-how from comparable B2B projects and has proven its ability to realise marketplaces within a few months."
BlueBolt Networks` founder and Executive Vice President, Lori Eichel, commented, "The component technology behind IFS software was particularly attractive to us. The piece we needed to have working right away was the order-management option. We have to be able to accept orders for samples, set up accounts, track transactions and earn customer satisfaction. We need to make sure that works before we get into the larger product transactions that eventually follow." Eichel added, "At BlueBolt we were particularly impressed with the enterprise and e-business solution IFS had developed for TextileSolutions.com."
IFS eMarkets is a solution for the marketplace business model, focusing on matching seller and buyer. It is intended both as a third-party managed many-to-many marketplace or as a private marketplace suitable for a one-to-many buyer-supplier model. The IFS solution contains many features that support attribute-rich products and situations where multi-threaded, advanced nested searches are critical. Further, it offers support for negotiations, integration with logistics service providers and buyer and seller statistics.
Bengt Nilsson, president and CEO of IFS, added, "These contracts solidify IFS` position as a leading global suppliers of standard components for Internet-based marketplaces. At present we are working with marketplaces in Europe, Latin America and North America, executing on our strategy to develop local collaboration with business consultants and Internet consultants who develop new business models based on the Internet. The competence we acquire through involvement in start-up projects is becoming increasingly important as traditional companies, where we have a large customer base, start doing business via the Internet."
Most new e-business enterprises that use IFS Applications have chosen to outsource their system operations to @IFS, an application service provider (ASP) that specialises in running IFS Applications. Manufacturing-trade.com will operate its applications at @IFS in Sweden. @IFS is also offered via hosting partners in the US, England and Poland.
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Manufacturing-trade.com
The vision of the Munich-based start-up Manufacturing-Trade.com is to become the leading trade platform for the European mechanical engineering market and its customers. Manufacturing-Trade.com acts as a pure broker between supply and demand for this fragmented market. The platform allows participants to trade surplus machine capacities and therefore to optimise their procurement processes. As a result, tenders can be invited more cost efficiently.
Capacity utilisation can be increased and suppliers can be tied more strongly to the company. Furthermore new suppliers can be found. The use of the platform means enormous potential to save money and to increase the quality of the mechanical engineering by opening channels to new manufacturing methods.
BlueBolt Networks
BlueBolt Networks is an Internet-based company based in Durham NC, serving the commercial interiors industry with a suite of productivity tools. Through its Web site, Blue Bolt will create an interactive environment for architects, designers, facility managers and real estate professionals, dealers, manufacturers, and other members of the interiors community.
Customer list
- freesourcing.com
- construction material textilesolutions.com
- textiles packplanet.com
- packaging delego.com
- transport services meatingpoint.com
- meat interforb.com
- forest products manufacturing-trade.com
- manufacturing capacity bluebolt.com
- interiors
IFS and IFS Applications (www.ifsworld.com)
Industrial & Financial Systems, IFS AB, develops and supplies business applications that span the entire demand and supply chain. The company`s approach to e-business allows customers to move step-by-step from their present operations to a solid e-business strategy that seamlessly integrates web storefronts, front office applications, and back office operations right down to the shop floor.
The IFS business concept is to increase a company`s freedom of action and competitiveness by offering integrated solutions consisting of standardised business components. IFS uses proven component technology and it is, therefore, easy to add a wide variety of new e-business capabilities. IFS Applications includes web-based ERP, CRM and SCM components, Internet storefronts, e-markets and e-procurement solutions IFS Applications offers over 60 functional business components for improving business processes in medium-to-large size companies.
IFS is the world`s fastest-growing company in the business applications market. The company has 3,500 employees with products sold in 42 countries through 64 offices around the world.