Providing a matchmaking service for buyers and sellers is the very least many business to business B2B hubs can do. But to provide an end-to-end supply chain management online is a complex task, requiring banks, financial institutions, credit agencies, freighters, shippers, custom officials, and inspectors, among others.
One supplier taking on the challenge is The Noble Group, a worldwide supplier of industrial raw materials and transport resources. In conjunction with IBM, The Noble group has created RawMart.com, a new B2B hub which links buyers and sellers in the raw materials markets around the world. RawMart.com envisages that this electronic marketplace will, by 2001, provide end-to-end supply chain management service at e-commerce...