Focusing on e-commerce
By Industrial Distribution Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 2/1/2000
Electronic commerce has emerged in a major way in the distribution industry, and the power transmission sector is no exception. AC and DC motors, drives, and items like gear reducers and transformers are readily available on the Internet. Yet, many distributors have big questions about funding e-commerce, and aren't sure yet how the Internet will impact them. With that in mind, the Power Transmission Distributors Assn. is trying to help members ready themselves for the new look distribution will take on in the future.Part of its efforts include sponsoring an Executive E-Commerce Boot Camp, which was scheduled to be held Feb. 8-9 at the Sheraton Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Md. The session, led by technology consultant Steve Epner, was tailored to power transmission and motion control distributors, with the purpose of providing e-commerce basics, including terminology, concepts, and new business models and the impact they will have on the supply chain.
"We all know that electronic commerce is coming," says David Witwer, general manager of Reserve Motion Control Systems, Cleveland, Ohio. "We have a lot of people, particularly in the PT distribution area who know it, but are maybe unfamiliar with it."
What it means is that distributors, whether they like it or not, need to be prepared to adopt e-commerce in some fashion in the not-too-distant future. Online startups like pthousedirect.com, an Internet-only seller of PT products, are already making inroads in traditional business.
Among the topics scheduled to be covered at the meeting were building e-catalogs; establishing and managing e-commerce relationships; getting connected, including selecting an ISP and e-mail provider; processing transactions; protecting proprietary data and other legal issues; competing with new business models; and preparing employees for the impact of e-commerce.
"This is a funny event that's happening," says Witwer. "It's not that [customers] are asking for it, it's just happening. We have not had one customer say we're not going to do business with you if you don't have e-commerce. But we've seen a number of letters [from customers] saying they are moving in that direction. The flags are going up, but nobody is going right out and saying it. It's also what leads to the uncertainty on the purchasing and the selling sides, as to just where will this be in a year."
Reserve Motion Control Systems has already defined its strategy, and expects to be able to conduct e-commerce sometime next year.
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