Online exchange opens for process plant equipment

By Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 8/1/2000

End users seeking custom designed equipment for chemical plants, pulp and paper mills and other processing plants may turn to an online exchange called Industria Solutions.

The company was launched in January by Ventro Corp., formerly Chemdex Corp., DuPont, IBM and CMGI@Ventures, to assist the procurement of heavy-duty fluid process equipment. Products covered include commodities like pipe, valves and fittings, configured equipment like pumps and compressors to engineered materials such as heat exchangers and vessels. Initial transactions began in June and the exchange already includes PVF distributor McJunkin Corp.

While Industria Solutions provides catalog searching and ordering capability, that's only a small part of its offering. Most importantly, the company provides plant owners, engineering contractors, fabricators and other suppliers a way to collaborate online, which reduces cycle times and costs.

"Our intent is to take as much ownership for the procurement process as the market wants [us] to take," says Steve Newland, vice president of supplier relations. "We're a full operating company-not a Web site only-that provides hosted procurement, professional services, sales and supplier management."

Its experience in process plant industries helps the firm stand out, Newland and other officials say. The Chemdex site, one of the first B2B 'Net marketplaces, has grown to include more than 24,000 users and 2,000 suppliers with 1.3 million products.

Industria Solutions uses an IT platform provided by Ventro, and marketing director Mark Nenke says the new firm has found that "we have some of the same rigorous requirements. Specifying equipment is critical."

Using a secure Web environment, customers may post RFQs with specifications and drawings and use those as working documents with vendors. "Being able to view and mark up vendor prints via the Internet dramatically accelerates the review process, which adds up to major time and money savings," says CEO Tom Nardi.