Cahners and Aspect form B2B venture

By Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 5/1/2000

New York and Mountain View, Calif.-Leaping into the electronic MRO procurement arena in April, Cahners Business Information and Aspect Development Inc. announced the formation of a new company called Manufacturing.Net LLC.

The new venture joins the rush of dot-com initiatives, some designed to siphon business away from traditional distribution channels and others designed to work within existing channels to streamline the supply chain.

The company's new procurement Web site, www.manufacturing.net, will serve all elements of the e-commerce value chain for industrial markets. The site will unite Cahners' industry-leading content and Aspect's maintenance, repairs and operations (MRO) product databases, Express Catalog search technology and e-commerce applications. Buyers of industrial products and services will be able to learn, find, compare and buy in a secure, open e-commerce environment.

The new company will be built around Manufacturing.net, a Web site Cahners launched in 1996 to provide content and community to the manufacturing sector. The site currently gets over 1 million page impressions monthly and has over 220,000 registered users. E-commerce applications, search technology and product databases will be added to the site.

"We're revolutionizing the way MRO purchasing is done," said Cahners CEO Marc Teren. "We are the first to combine a complete e-business capability with a wealth of information for manufacturing professionals in an easily accessible format, including up-to-date product information, economic statistics and industry-specific news and research."

Romesh Wadhwani, Aspect chairman and CEO, said, "In establishing Manufacturing.Net, we have created a market-leading exchange for MRO procurement in the manufacturing marketplace. Our new company will supply information on millions of standard parts and products in an open environment."

Cahners, a member of the Reed Elsevier plc group, and Aspect Development will fund the company together, as well as provide content, brands, software, hardware and other equipment. The new company will maintain offices in the Boston and Philadelphia areas.

"Manufacturing.Net's ability to tap into Aspect's growing base of strategic partnerships will greatly accelerate the site's growth," said John Sateja, senior vice president of marketing and business development for Manufacturing.Net. "Together, we are shaping the next generation of e-commerce for the manufacturing market by creating a single source solution for buyers and sellers."