BUSINESS
E-BUSINESS NEWS UPDATES FOR THE WORLD OF BUSINESS ONLINE
Technology
tile Exchange monthly settlement price between August 2002 and July 2003.
Documentum has launched eRoom 7, the latest stand-alone version of its collabora tion software, and eRoom 7 Enterprise, which integrates further with Documentum's enterprise content management (ECM) software. The eRoom application
Companies
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documentum
Cla ria nt businesses have been expanding their e-commerce activities. Clariant Masterbatches, the additives business, now of fers customers three routes for interaction: its online business center Myclariant.com, the plastics industry e-marketplace Omnexus, or enterprise system connections over the chemical industry network Elemica. These channels are available to Clariant customers in Europe, with rollouts planned in other regions over the next few years. Meanwhile, Lancaster Synthesis, Clariant's research chemicals unit, has upgraded its online ordering capabilities with help from technology providers SAP and Intershop.
million agreement under which ACS will assume responsibility for mainframe facil ities management. ACS serves more than 600 health-care-related clients including hospitals, life sciences companies, and gov ernment agencies. Separately GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare has signed on to use Pharmalicensing, an online exchange for partnering in the drug and biopharmaceutical industries. The company says it is looking for Phase II compounds with overthe-counter product potential under in-li censing, comarketing, or copromotion agreements.
Services
InnoCentive, the website that offers cash rewards for the best answers to posted sci entific problems, has created an advisory can be adapted to company enterprise sys board to help with its expansion into In tems to enable team collaboration, includ dia. Board members include scientists from ing scheduling, document handling, plan Indian corporate, academic, and govern ning, and execution. It can also be tailored ment R&D laboratories. The board will for work on specific projects, linking users consult with InnoCentive's management within a company or across multiple or to enhance R&D initiatives and further ganizations. Documentum reports that the site's association with leading scientif FDA will standardize on using the compa ic organizations in India. Innony's ECM software for creating, managing, Pfizer has selected software from Avaki Centive has also strengthened its delivering, and storing all types of content that will give the drug company's re p ^ ;i \ ' relationships with Russian scimaterials, including records and docu searchers secure, automated, and wide *N^^ entific organizations, including ments. The agency will also use the eRoom access to research data and computing software for its application review and foodcapabilities across global R&D sites. Us borne illness outbreak processes. ing Avaki's Data Grid software, Pfizer em ployees can exchange data while protect M I N D S O V E R M A T T E R ing the company's intellectual property. Planalytics has signed on Ondeo Nalco The software also simplifies complex da and DSM Chemicals North America as Moscow State University, St. Petersburg ta handling and administration; users au users of its GasBuyer software. The soft State University, and the Mendeleev Uni tomatically see the most current version ware helps companies purchase and hedge versity of Chemical Technology. Inno while the original is maintained securely natural gas supplies by using long-range Centive recently awarded $7,000 to Sergej climate forecasts, inventory change pro Osipov, a scientist at the Russian Acade jections, weekly storage data, and real-time my of Sciences, for creating a desired triG l a x o S m i t h K U n e is outsourcing its futures contract pricing to calculate gas fluoro-lactate derivative. mainframe computing needs to business prices. Planalytics says its software sug process and information technology gested purchases at an average price that provider Affiliated Computer Services E-epoxy.com has expanded into China, was 14.9% below the New Ifork Mercan with products on sale at the site to come (ACS). They have signed a five-year, $32 from parent Dow Chemical's new con verted resins plant in Zhangjiagang. The INTEGRATION three-year-old website already offers epoxies and related products for regional markets Chemical companies have made considerable progress internally integrating e-busi around the world and now is available in ness applications but still struggle in their interactions with trading partners, consulting nine languages. Operating 24 hours per day firm Industry Insights and conference organizer EyeforChem conclude from a recent it is designed for customers wanting to make survey. The biggest barrier continues to be customer readiness, cited by 85% of respon fast, straightforward spot purchases—that dents, followed by cost, mentioned by 70%. And although chemical firms have made sig is, ordering infixedquantities, onfixedpay nificant investments in integration software and integration hubs, many are not yet sat ment terms, and with penalties for changes isfied with the results. However, large companies (those with revenues above $5 billion) or cancellations. China already has an epoxy are more positive about their integration efforts with customers and suppliers than are industry information portal called Epoxysmaller companies. About 60% of respondents use a third-party hub for connecting with e.com that will help Dov/s epoxy e-busi others; about half of those link up via Elemica, while another 20% use ChemConnect. ness enter the Chinese marketplace. Elemica's toehold is particularly strong with larger companies, where it has 75% of ac
INNOCENTIVE
tive hub users. Only 35% of small to midsized companies actively using hubs use Ele mica. Hub participation is lower in North America, with 55% participating, compared with 70% in Europe.
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E-Business is written by Ann Thayer, who can be reached at
[email protected]. C&EN
/ AUGUST
1 1 , 2003
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