Microsoft, Tradenex to Establish Supply-Chain Hub

[Malaysia] Microsoft Malaysia Sdn Bhd has signed a memorandum of understanding with Tradenex.com Sdn Bhd to develop a supply-chain hub for the retail sector, called Malaysian Retail Exchange.

Microsoft Malaysia and Tradenex will be collaborating over the next six months to build an e-commerce trading platform for the community of manufacturers, distributors and retailers to minimize the administrative tasks of order processing and delivery scheduling on line.

Tradenex.com is a subsidiary of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM). The initiative follows the government’s call to Malaysian businesses to be empowered with emerging technologies to improve operational efficiency and competitiveness in a more open economy.

Tradenex will provide the infrastructure and technology to connect manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to online trading. This will help improve the speed of communication, reduce transaction costs, improve inventory management, and also better synchronize supply with consumer demand.

The exchange will also provide connectivity to its community to smoothen the flow of information in the supply chain management system. It is anticipated that participating companies will eventually be able to integrate their existing systems with the new platforms.

Jason Lim, Director, Internet Business Division at Microsoft Malaysia, said that the retail and manufacturing sectors stood to gain the most from adopting and implementing e-commerce strategies.

“The understanding of e-commerce has evolved over the past 18 months or so, and we are still seeing the consequences of consolidation among the Internet business segment,” added Lim.

The exchange infrastructure will be supported by Microsoft’s latest e-commerce server, BizTalk 2000, Windows 2000, and SQL 2000.

At the signing ceremony, Microsoft Malaysia was represented by its group VP of Productivity and Business Services Jeff Raikes and Tradenex by its Chairman Datuk Paul Low.