The eComOne project
Jonas 1999-01-01
Project background
The project was started early 1999 as a B2B e-commerce project focusing on the Scandinavian healthcare market. The project eComOne was enabled by a well-established provider of total supply-chain solutions, including products, logistics and e-business, for healthcare. Customers include both buyers and suppliers in the healthcare market. Buyers mainly consist of County Councils and Municipalities. Contracted suppliers include some of Scandinavia's largest suppliers of healthcare, office and dental supplies, as well as textile services, pharmaceuticals and food. In comparison to the competitors of the time, eComOne was considered to have a strong competitive advantage due to:
- a strong value proposition to both buyers and suppliers
- a solid understanding of, and network in, the healthcare market
- the provision of logistic solutions via strategic partners
The enabled business concept
The projekt owners business concept "was to offer the most comprehensive electronic trade platform for paperless and measurably effective supply solutions between buying and selling organizations." They offer a trade service that supports the entire supply process, including logistics.
The aim was to initially focus on the market for health and medical care in Scandinavia, but the ambition was to expand both geographically and in regard to industry.
The e-commerce volume
The year of 2000 the eComOne was already a leading e-commerce platform. with an e-commerce volume that exceeded SEK 100 million. There were signed contracts for additional volume. In 2000, buyers include:
- 4 County Councils
- More than 20 Municipalities
- 2 Scandinavian hotel chains
- A privat healthcare business
The goods that were handled via e-commerce came from suppliers within the areas of:
- Healthcare materials Hygiene products
- Office supplies
- Cleaning and sanitation products
- Laundry and leasing of textiles And a number of other frequently used goods.
The e-commerce platform
Commercior was the main supplier of the complete e-commerce platform for the business case. One platform for both suppliers and purchasers
It is an open platform and handles all the most common standards on the market. The entire process from ordering to payment is made more efficient and is automated, which makes possible only one order even though it involves many different suppliers, and means an entirely paperless flow from order to payment. All invoices are matched automatically against actual deliveries and transferred electronically to the buyer for automatic booking and payment. Logistic solutions are integrated into the e-commerce platform. The e-commerce platform makes data collection possible with a solution for a bar code system or other effective specification systems. The e-commerce platform allows the possibility to coordinate the logistical flow from suppliers. New solutions for stock keeping, cross docking and transports for fewer, packed order deliveries from many different suppliers are just a few examples. The system iss coordinated by a cooperative partner to the supplier and the buyer.
eComOne was introduced in accordance with the Swedish Agency for Administrative Development's standard agreement for e-commerce in the public sector. But the service also contains a number of developed and further refined functions in addition to those listed in the standard agreement.
The business objective
The business objective was to become a leader in Northern Europe. First primarily aiming towards players within health and medical care, but the aim was to also broaden operations to other sectors where there is potential to make the information and logistics flow between buyers and suppliers more efficient through the implementation of the e-commerce service.
eComOne, solution of the dilemma
The dilemma, as we see it, is the following:
Buyers are building their own solutions for communicating with all their suppliers via their own business system, their own chosen communication channels and their selected messages.
At the same time, suppliers are creating their own solutions, which today are web-interfaces, in order to communicate with all their customers via their own business system, their chosen communication channels and their selected messages.
Quite simply, there is no functioning standard, which is different from the situation on the London Stock Exchange or the Vegetable Market in Halmstad, both of which have a well-functioning marketplace for both buyers and suppliers. There, all trade is organized on the spot and everyone knows the rules of the game. This is a neccessary criterion in order for any type of efficient trade to occur.
That was the basic analysis - which resulted in a vision. We simply decided to create such a platform - eComOne - that make possible a platform for electronic trade between different buyers and suppliers with the help of efficient electronic commerce.
In addition to the requirement of the absolute best technical performance and a technology that can continue to be used in the future, we entered into this work together with two selected partners and with two important requirements. We realized that for electronic commerce to be successful in large volumes, that communication between our platform and those of the suppliers and buyers must be able to manage all existing standards on the market. Another prerequisite is that the service be aimed towards both suppliers and buyers.
The eComOne platform fulfils both these requirements. eComOne enables an e-commerce service that opens the door to tomorrow's business logistics and offers solutions to the dilemma of e-commerce.
The project was delivered early in 2001
Commercior handed over the eComOne platform to its commissioner.
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View Broschyr (in Swedish, 1999)
View Demo (shop, 1999)