E‐commerce in production: some experiences

This paper will report on a number of e‐commerce projects at production companies in The Netherlands. It has been shown that there is no unique model for the introduction of e‐commerce in production companies. Companies can start to use e‐commerce at different ends of the organization, with different objectives and different (positive) outcomes, depending on the market situation and the state of ICT awareness within the company. Objectives might range from cutting costs on purchase procedures to increasing customer intimacy. ICT awareness can range from having one PC (personal computer) for a department with no Internet connection to a completely functioning intranet and Internet connection for each employee. The paper will be concluded with some current trends in e‐commerce, especially on the increased use of electronic markets between the companies within the same vertical market segment.