ATLANTA, GA and FOSTER CITY, CA -- February 13, 2001 -- - Equipment manufacturers will now be able to reach plastic processors through online plastics marketplace Omnexus under a partnership announced today between the e-marketplace and BigMachines.
Foster City, Calif.-based BigMachines provides Internet software applications for selecting and configuring complex products such as industrial machinery based on engineering requirements.
Omnexus will have an exclusive license in the plastics industry for BigMachine's e-marketplace software. The plastics industry professionals who are Omnexus members will be able to search for plastics processing equipment across a selection of possible suppliers, issue requests for quotation to multiple suppliers and make equivalency comparisons for such parameters as clamping force, tie-bar spacing and shot size.
"We made a commitment to move beyond resins, offering the plastics industry the most complete e-marketplace, including equipment, tooling and design collaboration," said Jonathan Greenspahn, vice president of equipment, tooling and MRO for Omnexus. "Our alliance with BigMachines provides the technology to help actualize that vision."
BigMachines and Omnexus are planning to offer additional aftermarket parts functionality, including CAD assembly drawings and dynamic bill of materials generation based on equipment serial number search.
"Omnexus, coupled with our leading technology platform for complex, engineered products, creates a robust marketplace for injection molding and related equipment enabling buyers to streamline the procurement process and suppliers to reach customers through a single technology platform," said Ian Chiu, director of technology development for BigMachines.
Omnexus currently consists of more than 20 suppliers, including: ATOFINA, BASF, Bayer, Biesterfeld, Clariant, Dow Chemical, DSM, DuPont, Ellis & Everard, PolyOne, Resinex & Ravago, Solvay and Ticona/Celanese. The Omnexus site is now operational in the United States and is due to start serving Europe in the first quarter of 2001 and Asia and the rest of the world by 2002. Global headquarters for the company is Zurich, Switzerland. In the U.S., Omnexus operates from Atlanta, Ga.
