ATLANTA and SAN FRANCISCO (Jan. 16, 2000) - ForestExpress, a global e-commerce marketplace dedicated to the paper and forest products industry, has selected e-commerce infrastructure provider Moai Technologies to power its B2B auctions and reverse auctions for paper and forest products.
ForestExpress has licensed LiveExchange, Moai's structured online negotiation software. Using the online negotiation tools in LiveExchange, ForestExpress will be able to bring buyers and sellers together to negotiate product availability, quality, materials grade, payment terms and price.
ForestExpress plans to use LiveExchange to support auctions for its Recycled Fiber and Timber Vertical markets. As a result, ForestExpress customers will be able to shorten procurement time and will allow both buyers and sellers to collaborate on sourcing of critical goods and services.
We partnered with Moai Technologies in order to offer the versatility and user-friendly capability our customers expect for structured online negotiations, said Bob Renner, chief technology officer of ForestExpress. This moves ForestExpress another step closer to providing a complete, efficient and cost-effective solution for our customers.
The strategic partnership between Moai Technologies and ForestExpress is designed to integrate real-life transactions with bidding functionality for the benefit of ForestExpress customers. In addition, LiveExchange has an open Java architecture based on common standards similar to XML that can be integrated with other e-commerce technology already used to power ForestExpress, such as CommerceOne, SAPMarkets, and webMethods.
We are delighted ForestExpress has chosen to use LiveExchange to handle their online negotiations, said Matt Miller, president and CEO of Moai. This licensing agreement demonstrates that LiveExchange has the capabilities to meet the diversified sourcing needs of ForestExpress's wide spectrum of target customers, and versatile enough to be applied to buying and selling an entire range of forest products.
The adoption of online strategic sourcing by a large industry consortium, such as ForestExpress, exemplifies new trends that are quickly gaining traction in the marketplace, notes Tim Minahan, managing director of Aberdeen Group's e-Supply Chain and e-Procurement practice. Such online partnerships are transitioning online marketplaces beyond supporting simple, price-centric financial transactions to supporting more complex, and collaborative activities, such as strategic sourcing and electronic negotiation, said Minahan. The decision to use LiveExchange positions ForestExpress to support such collaborative activities, generating greater efficiencies and value for all participants.
