In an ideal world, you could get an idea for a Web business, talk with a couple friends, walk into a venture capital president's office and walk out with millions. Actually, that was the dot-com world of two years ago. Today, in order to make e-business a success, you will most likely need help from those with successful track records in the industry — and a lot more.

You'll need more help than a buddy with an idea. You'll need partners who can collaborate with your people, understand your systems and share your financial risk.

Respondents to a recent survey of distributor operations named collaboration with customers and suppliers above all other items as critical to the success of their operations. Fifty-three percent said collaboration mattered "a great deal," as opposed to "a fair amount."

E-collaboration includes sales and services, ordering and billing, technical training and engineering, Internet meetings, auctions and exchanges, and much more. We asked distributors, e-business technology suppliers, and manufacturers what they are doing, specifically, in e-collaboration and why their efforts are successful.

Paul Gilmartin, vice president of product management for MatrixOne, Inc., in Westford, Mass., a provider of software solutions for business-to-business collaboration, says distributors and manufacturers operate in a sales world where customers' need for speed will continue to increase.

"E-business is a key to successful collaboration because of its amazing speed and flexibility," Gilmartin says. "Collaboration is more than 'two heads being better than one' because it involves long-term, intimate knowledge of partners' systems and methods."

Collaboration takes trust and a fair amount of time and planning, he says.

Using collaborative Web technology, distributors can become involved in the process of designing and developing products and services more easily than in the past.

"The possibilities for collaboration are endless, but one thing is certain — distributors will have to adapt to the Internet the way they always have adapted to other developments," he says. "Distributors will then be able to help create the business rules that govern manufacturing and procurement in the future."

Accessing information and responding quickly to customers' needs are what drive the demand for Internet collaboration. The faster and more accurate the response, the more likely distributors are to keep that customer coming back.

As an MRO distributor that is part of a larger corporation, Kaman Industrial Technologies uses the expertise of its parent, Kaman Corp., to leverage systems integration for its customers, according to Kaman's e-business manager, Brian Lombardo. One of the services on its e-business Web site, www.kamandirect.com, is direct vendor access to check inventory.

"We have direct supplier connections with a number of vendors. When a customer needs to check inventory on a particular item, he can click a button that will show availability of that item at Kaman and the manufacturer," Lombardo says. "That will return an answer stating whether or not the factory can fill the order immediately."

Vendor sign-up for the direct-line service through Kaman's servers has been good considering the slowdown in the economy, he says. The system operates on a virtual private network.

"I'm getting requests from customers and our people to get more vendors on board as soon as possible," Lombardo says.

David Mayer, vice president of marketing at Kaman, says the savings for both the customer and Kaman are considerable.

"Traditionally, this kind of [inquiry] has been done with an extra phone call. The customer waits while a salesperson calls the factory. Considering that we process about 10,000 requests for these types of inquiries a week, this technology is potentially saving 10,000 phone calls to vendors," Mayer says.

Kaman continues to build its e-business initiatives around customer requests. Perhaps the biggest growth the company has seen in e-business collaboration is B2B total supply chain connectivity.

"Customers typically requesting B2B integration have their own procurement system and our job is to connect our infrastructure to theirs, system to system," says Lombardo. "We are now in the process of connecting with customers through preventive maintenance software applications and marketplaces. The software can order all the items needed for a job, then review the order to make sure it conforms to business rules defined by the buyer."

In order to collaborate with customers and vendors, Kaman's business processes must satisfy the need to provide high levels of integration while maintaining local serviceability, Lombardo says.

"All these features are fully integrated as ways to provide for customers' needs, in an effort to transition to more efficient, electronic means. They are not separate businesses or processes," he says.

On top of that, as customers demand the use of advanced collaborative technologies, manufacturers will follow suit, and vice versa. That fact will drive more use of Internet languages like ebXML, according to Mayer.

"These [ebXML] systems are quite expensive and we see them now mainly with our larger customers," he says. "I think new technologies are good for the industry because it's all about supply chain efficiency."

However, e-collaboration need not be a complex, multi-structured Internet environment. Through the use of "storerooms," Kaman's personalized online catalog feature, the company provides a simplified way to track and order items for repetitive or scheduled buys. One scenario allows the feature to be used for scheduled maintenance. The buyer can specify a storeroom that describes the purpose and adds the products he will need.

When the scheduled date arrives, the buyer can select all the items or adjust the order as needed.

Other suppliers and distributors are perfecting Web-based collaboration with services much like those at Kaman. These exciting technologies are open to so many possibilities, according to experts, that distributors need to begin with those most likely to bring ROI quickly.

In a March, 2002 poll conducted by the online newsletter of the National Assn. of Wholesaler-Distributors, readers were asked which of the following business strategies would have the biggest impact on them in the next three years: collaboration with supply chain partners (38 percent); new information technologies (26 percent); or network restructuring (five percent). Twenty-eight percent of respondents said that all three would impact their businesses.

Those results, particularly the last, reinforce the premise that Internet collaboration is becoming more critical in the minds of distributors.

IndustrySuite, Inc., is an Internet provider of marketing and strategic planning applications, headquartered in Warren, N.J.

"IndustrySuite seamlessly integrates all functions in the marketing process, from strategic planning and 'What if?' budgeting through project execution, scheduling, results measurement, lead handling, and sales prospecting and support," says CEO and founder Dan Krantz. The products not only allow collaboration in real time from any Internet connection, they also store information like sales call results and marketing results that can later be tapped for use in new projects, Krantz says.

"We started the company to create easy-to-learn and affordable programs so team members and industry partners can collaborate," he says. "If distributors want to take on a new line, they can develop marketing plans using known parameters. If they want to manage leads toward their most profitable ends, and track results, our programs facilitate that at any Internet connection."

Sales project management, budget control and strategic control are all integrated because they must be used in collaboration to determine true results. So, the company's products enable distributors to plan, execute and report results about the integration of a new product line, Krantz says.

Web products from another company, SupplySolution, Inc., of Southfield, Mich., demonstrate how collaborative software can eliminate steps in the supply process and streamline activities.

Modern Plastics Technology, a tier-2 automotive supplier in Port Huron, Mich., uses an Internet inventory replenishment program, linked directly to its customer's inventory, from SupplySolution. The program allows Modern Plastics employees to view inventory, maximum and minimum stocking quantities, and ship items just in time. Regular customer ordering methods are unnecessary, according to vice president Douglas Archer.

"This is ideal for distributors because usage activity is monitored in real time," he says. "The cost to distributors is low because all they really need is an Internet connection and a few days of training."

The system could be used to replenish distributors' shelves from a manufacturer, or customers' shelves from the distributors' inventory, he says. The older EDI system was prone to errors and too slow.

"With EDI, needs could change while the paper is being processed, so we receive an order that is already out of date," Archer says. "The customer sees what we see on the computer screen, not an old, incorrect version on paper."

Prophet 21, another company providing electronic solutions among distributors, suppliers, and end users, views electronic collaboration as one of the keys to thriving in the future. According to president and CEO Chuck Boyle, distributors' commitment to opening their systems for collaboration with other distributors — possibly including competitors — and their suppliers is directly proportional to the success they will have in e-business.

Within the framework of Prophet 21's Internet trading network, Trading Partner Connect, distributors can establish permissions to view suppliers' and other distributors' inventory.

"Trading Partner Connect is an Internet trading network where all partners control their trading relationships," Boyle says.

When a customer calls to place an order for an item that is out of stock, this system can automatically check the inventory of the distributor's partners and show him availability in real time, Boyle says.

Distributors like Quality Mill Supply Co., Inc. of Columbus, Ind., can view real-time stock quantities at other distributors or at manufacturers' warehouses. With a customer waiting on the phone for an answer about delivery, the Internet-based queries available in systems like these are invaluable, says Quality Mill's president Mike Baker.

"We shorten the cycle to the end user by checking real-time stock at the supplier if we don't have it," Baker says. "We process it through electronic ordering. For distributors, the invoice is generated electronically and paid by electronic funds transfer. We have shortened the cycle from days to minutes."

It's mainly a matter of perfecting a system that adds as much value as possible to customer transactions, Baker says.

"We collaborate with manufacturers and other distributors. It's that simple, but it takes an easing of policies many distributors have had for years. They must open their information systems," he says.

One manufacturer that Quality Mill collaborates with is Loctite Corp., based in Rocky Hill, Conn.

Kevin Boyle is Loctite's vice president of channel management and industrial distribution. He works with Loctite's Operations and Logistics Distributor Advisory Council to implement policies "which will help achieve channel efficiencies and reduce operating costs," he says. "Distributors and manufacturers need to focus on the total picture, keeping in mind that we don't go to the bank with sales but with profits. Sales as well as cost savings have to be primary goals."

Electronic invoicing into an ERP system is just one of the facets of e-collaboration that will dramatically reduce costs, he says.

"We don't stock some items but we can give an immediate answer and that works on several levels," Baker says.

Another important development in Internet group collaboration is the ability to move dead stock from one distributor to another that is actively selling the same items, Baker says.

"As a group, the collaboration part is monumental," Baker says. "When you look at the staggering amount of dead inventory that distributors have that is active for someone else, it's huge. Those other people can use it, and this is the best way yet to tell them we have it."