Hong Kong , August 12, 2000 - In the U.S., about 20-30% of electronics manufacturing processes are currently outsourced to other countries. The advent of e-commerce has caused a great number of U.S. companies to move from traditional purchasing methods to electronic procurement. In order to compete for orders through this new channel, Hong Kong manufacturers must be well prepared.

Mr. Nicky Wu, President of the soon-to-be released eTrons Systems e-Marketplace for the electronics manufacturing industry, pointed out at a seminar yesterday that the trend for outsourcing will continue, and is expected to reach US$68 billion by 2003.

One of the main problems with outsourcing is finding contractors who are fast and reliable, and the screening process requires substantial investment of both time and money. Mr. Wu indicated that over 82% of the time required for procurement is spent on chores such as tracking down suppliers and order status, which have no direct benefit to the contracting process itself.

Evaluation system helps screen business partners

According to Mr. Wu, the eTrons Systems B2B
e-Marketplace is specially designed for the electronics manufacturing industry. It is developed in conjunction with numerous U.S. buyers and suppliers, and the functions are therefore based on the traditional procurement process.

A buyer who finds a supplier with very attractive pricing may be hesitant to place an order because of the lack of previous dealings. The advantage of using the e-Marketplace is that the order can be split between two suppliers to lower the risks.

The buyer can give a major portion of the order to a familiar supplier, and place a small trial order with the new contractor. If the results are satisfactory, future orders can be confidently placed with the new supplier.

Another breakthrough of the website is that both buyers and suppliers will be rated for their reliability. This is to ensure that both parties conduct their transactions responsibly, and buyers can refer to the ratings when making an outsourcing decision.

The eTrons Systems website also offers a brokerage service to busy companies. All they have to do is submit their bill of materials to the site and eTrons Systems will match them to the appropriate supplier. A fee of about 5% of the transaction value will be charged.

(Read original English press release)