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Other B2B Models

Some other B2B models are as shown in figure below:
E-Distributor 
One type of intermediary in e-commerce is the B2B -distributor. These intermediaries connect manufacturers (suppliers) with business buyers, such as retailers (or resellers in the computer industry). E-distributors basically aggregate the catalogs or the product information from many suppliers, sometimes thousands of them, in one place - the intermediary web site. 

Companies that supply products and services directly to individual businesses are e-distributors. E-distributors are owned by one company seeking to serve many customers.

Some businesses develop portal sites or e-malls as a center for transactions between their members and customers. Customers are able to order via the websites. The sites provide information, certify products, and are responsible for payment and delivery. Therefore, the website hosts have expertise in their business lines. The expected income comes from brokerage fees, and advertising. 

The main advantages of E-distributor are as below: 
1) Purchase request of the buyer can be fulfilled at any time. 
2) Producer has direct customer contact.
3) Shortages and longer lead times are eliminated.  
4) Reduced production, storage and distribution costs.  
5) Products with low economic conditions may be discontinue.

Industry Consortia 
Industry consortia are industry-owned vertical marketplaces that serve specific industries, such as the automobile, aerospace, chemical, floral, or logging industries. 

Industry consortia have tended to be more successful than independent exchanges in part because they are sponsored by powerful, deep-pocketed industry players, and also because they strengthen traditional purchasing behavior rather than seek to transform it. 

A subset of third-party exchanges is a Consortium Trading Exchange (CTE), an exchange formed and operated by a group of major companies. The major declared goal of CTES (also called consortia) is to provide industry-wide transaction services that support buying and selling. These services include links to the participants' back-end processing systems as well as collaborative planning and design services.

Markets operate in three basic types of environments, shown in the following list, The type of environment indicates which third-party exchange is most appropriate: 
1) Fragmented Markets: These markets have large numbers of both buyers and sellers. For example, the life sciences and food industries. When a large percentage of the market is fragmented, third-party managed exchanges are most appropriate.  
2) Seller-Concentrated Markets: In this type of market, several large companies sell to a very large number of buyers. For example, the plastics and transportation industries. In this type of market, consortia may be most appropriate.  
3) Buyer-Concentrated Markets: In this type of market, several large companies do most of the buying from a large number of suppliers. For example, the automotive, airline, and electronics industries. Here, again, consortia may be most appropriate.

Private Industrial Network 
Private industrial networks are B2B extranets that focus.on continuous business process coordination between companies for collaboration and supply chain management. 

A private industrial network typically consists of a large firm using an extranet to link its suppliers and other key business partners. The network is owned by the buyer and it permits the firm and designated suppliers, distributors and other business partners to share product design and development, marketing, production scheduling, inventory management and unstructured communication including graphics and e-mail. 

Another term for a private industrial network is a private exchange. Private exchanges are currently the fastest type of B2B commerce.

Types of Private Industrial Networks 
1) Single-Firm Private Industrial Networks: These are the most common form of private industrial network. These single-firm networks are owned by a single large purchasing firm, such as Wal-Mart or Procter & Gamble. Participation is by invitation only to trusted long-term suppliers of direct inputs. Single-firm networks typically evolve out of a firm's own Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP), and they are an effort to include key suppliers in the firm's own business decision-making.  
2) Industry-Wide Private Industrial Networks: They often evolve out of industry associations. These networks are usually owned by a consortium of the large firms in an industry and have the following goals:  
i) Providing a neutral set of standards for commercial communication over the Internet;
ii) Having shared and open technology platforms for solving industry problems; and  
iii) In some cases, providing operating networks that allow members of an entire industry to closely collaborate.
 
To some extent, these industry-wide networks are a response to the success of single-firm private industrial networks. 

For example, Wal-Mart has refused to open its very successful network to other members of the retail industry, in effect to become an industry standard, for fear it will be sharing technology secrets with other retailers like Sears.

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