August 11, 2000 (Hong Kong) - According to industry veterans at a recent seminar, the procurement of electronic parts and components for the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry will never be the same in the New Economy. With the introduction of electronic procurement (e-procurement) and electronic marketplace (e-marketplace), the buying and selling time will be cut from days to minutes with an estimated savings of 29-39 percent in costs (Business Week, Jan. 17, 2000).

Mr. Nicky Wu, President of eTrons Systems, Inc. headquarters in California, and Alan Kan, Managing Director of Clever Motion Industries Ltd., Hong Kong, shared their EMS domain expertise at a seminar entitled 'e-Procurement and e-Marketplace for the Electronics Manufacturing Industry in the New Economy'. The seminar, organized by the Hong Kong Productivity Council in conjunction with eTrons Systems, Inc., was held on August 11, 2000 at the Hong Kong Productivity Council Building.

"The changing of the procurement scene and the development of portals as e-marketplaces," said Mr. Wu, "is fueled by the maturity of the internet, the affordability of computer technology and the projected growth for business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce"

Citing a recent prediction made by the Technology Forecasters, Mr. Wu said the EMS industry is expected to grow 19.5% per year to US$150 billion by 2003. In fact, the top five EMS companies in the United States are experiencing an increase of 50% growth and have captured a market capital valued at US$60 billion. According to Merrill Lynch, EMS revenues will reach $88 billion this year.

In such a booming market, said Mr. Wu, EMS companies are hampered by an ineffective buying and selling cycle and did little to support the end objective of bringing raw materials into the plant, making the buying and selling in the industry an inefficient, inaccurate and time-consuming process.

"The major benefits of an e-marketplace to businesses are the reduced transaction costs, the speed to market, the smooth industry-wide volatility, increased exposure to new sales opportunities and the levelled playing field for smaller organizations", he said.

Another speaker, Mr. Kan, pointed out the advantages of e-procurement over conventional methods: it offers 24 hours/7 days a week operation across geographical and time zones, easy accessibility through a portal with quick sourcing time, updated information and fast response from the supplier, as well as more transparency in pricing, availability and lead time for easy decision-making.

"B2B can save US$500 million per year with proven cost effectiveness," said Mr. Kan. "It reduces paper work by enabling repeated tasks in sourcing and buying to be performed with ease and accuracy over time and space. This is achieved with sophisticated search engines obtaining the most updated information on catalogues, data sheets and specifications."

Participants at the seminar also saw a demonstration of eTrons Systems' product TradeMX, an online e-marketplace targeted to meet the B2B e-commerce needs of the EMS industry. TradeMX fundamentally changes the way procurement professionals conduct their business transactions in the New Economy by streamlining and simplifying the whole trading process, which translates into significant savings in operation costs and manpower.

The speakers concluded that to be successful and competitive in a booming economy, companies must adapt to the pace of the new economy by leveraging the trend of e-procurement and e-marketplace to save costs, increase profits and modernize the procurement process, in order to join the ranks of leaders in the global markets.

The seminar received very positive response from the participants. Attendees included a number of major local EMS companies including Flextronics, Timex, MicroElectronics and members from the government sector, as well as IBM. The general feedback was unequivocally enthusiastic; the consensus was e-procurement is definitely needed in today's EMS industry, so much so that several major companies signed up on the spot as TradeMX users.

About eTrons Systems, Inc.

eTrons Systems, Inc. is a world-class provider of B2B electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry solutions, which include an array of neutral and comprehensive end-to-end product offerings and professional consultant services, backed by 24/7 global customer service support.

These products and services harness the in-depth domain expertise of the eTrons Systems' team, embraces the best-of-class software and hardware architecture in today's computer technology, and strategic alliances formed with industry partners. eTrons Systems is committed to creating added value to the EMS industry's supply chain automation process, and to contribute to the growth of the industry.

eTrons Systems, founded in 1999 by Joseph Jeng (CEO/Chairman) and Nicky Wu (President), with headquarters in Mountain View, California, U.S.A. eTrons Systems has grown internationally with offices in Los Angeles, Texas, Colorado, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore.

For more information regarding eTrons Systems and its products and services, visit www.etrons.com or call (650) 210 0880.

About Clever Motion Industries Limited

Mr. Alan Kan and three partners from the electronic industry founded the company in 1987. The company was established as a trading company for electronic components and quickly evolved into a multi-discipline company. The company is having material management, supply chain management, small-scale manufacturing, local area networking, computer and peripheral installation/maintenance and application development.

Clever Motion earns high respect from the electronic industry from both the technical know-how and financial standings. For more information regarding Clever Motion Industries Limited and its products and services, visit www.cmindhk.com or call 011 (852) 2787 0778.

About The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC)

The Hong Kong Productivity Council is a multi-disciplinary organization established by statute in 1967 to promote increased productivity and the use of more efficient methods throughout Hong Kong's business sectors. The aim is to increase efficiency and competitiveness. In assisting Hong Kong companies to move upmarket, HKPC implements a value-adding strategy through People, Process, Product, Partnership development, refining manufacturing processes, introducing new technologies and organizing seminars. In recent years, HKPC feels that the Internet technology and the popularity of B2B is important to the industries and will revive the city into prosperity. It careful selected the industry guru to share the latest technology in e-Procurement and e-Marketplace. Mr. Alan Kan and Mr. Nicky Wu were invited as the speakers of the seminar.

Media Contact:

Joseph Yu
Director
Corporate and Marketing Communications
eTrons Systems, Inc.
email: joseph.yu@etrons.com
Tel: (905) 337-7711
Fax: (905) 337-6288

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