Internet sites and business issues relevant to Canadian processors and moldmakers (December 01, 2000)
By Cindy Macdonald
Find the right person for the jobNeed someone to help get your web site updated, or integrate your on-line purchasing with existing office systems? Who you gonna call? It's not as simple as it may see...
Find the right person for the job
Need someone to help get your web site updated, or integrate your on-line purchasing with existing office systems? Who you gonna call? It’s not as simple as it may seem. Brainbanx.com, a site for sourcing service providers and Internet consultants, illustrates the complexity behind building the infrastructure for e-business (1). To help narrow your search for consultants, Brainbanx presents a staggering list of 112 skills classifications to choose from. Do you need e-business/ERP skills or IT services/ERP skills, or is it e-business/e-procurement knowledge your problem requires? Sorry, there’s no option that says “all of the above”.
Get into making electronics, quick
What is the “new economy” anyway? The definition Toronto-Dominion economists use for this high-growth category of the economy could include a lot of plastic processors, and have trickle down benefits for the whole plastics industry. TD includes three manufacturing sectors (Communication and Other Electronic Equipment; Office, Store and Business Machines; and Communications, Energy Wire and Cable) in its definition. Four services including cable TV, tecommunications and software suppliers, complete the “new economy” industries. TD’s quarterly forecast issued in October predicts that virtually all of these industries will grow at double-digit rates for the 2000 to 2002 period. The Office, Store and Business Machines industry is expected to post the fastest growth at 18.8 percent. The downside is that all three of the new economy manufacturing sectors posted higher growth rates from 1997 to 1999 than they will in the next two-year period.
One stop shopping for compounders
Three complementary additives suppliers have banded together to form PolymerAdditives.com, an e-commerce site that allows customers to buy from multiple suppliers with the convenience of one on-line order (2). Participating suppliers are Albemarle Corp., Cytec Industries Inc. and GE Specialty Chemicals. GE’s emphasis on e-business, as evidenced by GEpolymerland.com, should serve the new venture well. The portal offers an above-average array of features: real-time inventory, order and shipping status; technical information; MSDS; certificates of analysis; formulation help; and on-line seminars.
