• Use Internet technology to connect to their suppliers
• Find that the Internet technology makes it much easier to establish and follow consistent business processes with suppliers
• Exchange not only transaction data, but also a wide variety of other information (quality data, schedules, engineering changes, prototype and pilot run results, returned goods authorizations, order status, etc.)
• Can easily get information immediately to everyone involved in both companies
• Customize web pages for key suppliers
• Publish technology roadmaps, capacity planning, engineering data, and quality programs

• Have communication difficulties caused by foreign languages and distant time zones
• Fail to get the word to all with a need to know
• Have difficulty telling the supplier where to find the official source and location of important pieces of information regarding schedules, quality deviations, engineering changes, etc.
• Waste immense amounts of time and manpower exchanging information

• Reduces confusion, making your company leaner
• Provides an official place for publishing many types of information and data
• Reduces headcount at both companies
• Brings your key suppliers closer, improving the partnership
• Publishes timely agreed-upon metrics such as quality and delivery data to better motivate the supplier
• Gives engineering, manufacturing, and quality & reliability people instant access to information formerly filtered through purchasing

"However, EDI systems are costly to install and operate, so no company ever connected with more than the top 20% of its trading partners', says John J. Fontanella, director of supply-chain research at market-watcher AMR Research Inc. in Boston. 'Now the Internet is cheap enough that even small job shops can afford to hook up. As a result, we'll see 90% of manufacturing move to the Internet in short order', predicts Fontanella." - Business Week, October 4, 1999

"That's because every manufacturer is surrounded by rings of suppliers and distributors. To become customer-centric in the Internet Age, they all will have to perform complex, synchronized movements. The solution: also the Internet." - Customers Move into the Driver's Seat, Business Week, October 4, 1999

"Dell can now complete 90% of its purchases entirely online." - Business Week E.BIZ/September 18, 2000