Elemica, a B2B E-commerce Network for Chemicals, Enters the Japanese Market:
Elemica Aims at Improving Buying/Selling Business Transactions through an Electronic Kanban (VMI) System
Elemica announced on April 9 its plan to begin its operations in Japan in the Japanese market. Elemica is a B2B e-commerce network for chemical products which is operated by a consortium of the 22 global leading chemical companies including Japanese companies. After opening a web site (www.elemica.jp), Elemica will set up an office in June. The activity base of the web site in Japan will be a third one following the ones in the United States and Germany. Elemica will begin to work on the introduction of its network to the Japanese chemical industry. Elemica positions its system as a tool that can be used by the Japanese companies to deal with their business partners throughout the world. Its system functions as an electronic Kanban (VMI) system making the rationalization of order-placement/taking work possible.
Elemica was founded in August 2000 by the world's leading chemical companies including Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. and Sumitomo Chemical Co. as well as Dow Chemical Co. of the United States and BASF of Germany. Elemica started operations in Europe and the United States in the summer of 2001. The membership of Elemica is now 18 companies and is expected to grow to 55 companies by the end of this year. The Elemica network is a B2B information network connecting chemical producers and trading firms dealing in chemicals. The primary target area of the Elemica network is the buying/selling business processes which are complex and require accuracy in the work performed in the processes.
On the Elemica network, the business processes for the buying/selling business transactions to be made under ongoing contracts will be automated if both seller and buyer companies connect to Elemica through an ERP connection. The status of specific transactions can be checked at Internet terminals.
The Elemica network provides so to speak a Kanban (VMI) system which makes a reduction in inventories possible by enabling an order to be placed automatically for a quantity of a product required by a buyer to a seller at a necessary time. Initially 2 to 3 million yen would be required for connection to the Elemica network. In addition to that, an annual fee of 1,000 dollars would be needed. Charges for individual transactions would be imposed on the sellers alone. A charge for one transaction is estimated to be 3 to 25 dollars. Elemica is forecasting that the number of ERP-connected transactions on e-commerce networks including Elemica will represent about 45% of the total number in 2008.
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