SESAMi Inc., a B2B e-commerce service provider operating the SESAMi.NET e-marketplace in Asia, has entered the Greater China market via a deal signed today with well-known razor brand Schick.
Schick, which is part of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer‘s Warner-Lambert Consumer Group, has manufacturing operations in Guangzhou, and a trading company based in Hong Kong.
According to SESAMi, the Schick deal is its first in Guangzhou, and was initiated via its partnership with the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) to expand its e-commerce community for wider market coverage.
“This is a true milestone for SESAMi in Greater China,” said Poh Mui Hoon, president of SESAMi. “In addition to delivering immediate benefits to Schick, this showcase project will help manufacturers with similar types of operations in both Hong Kong and China understand what competitive advantages SESAMi Inc. brings.”
Gordon Lo, HKPC’s principal consultant of its Information Technology Division, added, “SESAMi Inc. has a proven track record of providing and implementing effective B2B e-commerce solutions. We are extremely pleased that Schick sees the benefits of employing SESAMi’s powerful e-procurement and supply chain management to help enhance their online services.”
SESAMi will provide Schick with its e-Direct online procurement solution, connected to SESAMi.NET. The solution enables businesses of all sizes to participate in the procurement process by unifying traditional EDI, EDI-over-the Internet, and Web-based EDI services. Company officials said the SESAMi-developed Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) will enable Schick to increase turnaround time, improve service, and lower transaction and process costs.
“Our next-generation supply chain management solutions allow companies to ascertain demand at the early stages. This means they can ramp supply up or down accordingly before inventory levels become disproportionate with orders, a major factor for staying on the profit curve,” added Poh.
Although no exact figure was mentioned, SESAMi officials did say Schick’s investment costs will include upfront implementation expenses and recurrent subscription and usage fees.
The two-phase e-Direct implementation will begin in Q4 this year, with Phase I focusing on the e-procurement of direct materials and Phase II – scheduled for a Q1-Q2 2002 launch date – on the completion of Schick’s ability to purchase indirect materials via the Web.
SESAMi’s deal with Schick is its second North Asia-related announcement; it had just last month opened its Korea office and formed a partnership with Korea’s iCOMPIA, a supply chain integration (SCI) solution provider.
The Singapore-headquartered SESAMi, which merged with Hong Kong-based Asia2B early this year, has shareholders which include: Singapore Telecom, i-CABLE of Wharf Group, Jardine Matheson, Swire Pacific, Overseas Union Bank, New World China Enterprises, WI Harper, Beijing Enterprises, Eastman Chemical, Commerce One and SUNeVision of Sun Hung Kai Properties.
