August 12, 2002

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Volume 80, Number 32
CENEAR 80 32 p. 20
ISSN 0009-2347

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E-BUSINESS
NEWS UPDATES FOR THE WORLD OF BUSINESS ONLINE

Services

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SciQuest has expanded its customer base through several new agreements. Schering-Plough's research institute will use the company's Enterprise Substance Manager software to manage inventories of compounds and sample plates used in high-throughput screening, genomics, and combinatorial chemistry operations. In another deal, Air Products & Chemicals has licensed SciQuest's Enterprise Reagent Manager application designed for procuring and managing research chemicals and tracking them for regulatory compliance reporting. Air Products has chosen to use a hosted version of the software to avoid additional hardware and internal support costs. The University of Notre Dame has selected HigherMarkets' software for procuring goods and services. SciQuest acquired HigherMarkets--which focuses on universities, colleges, and research institutes--in June. And current SciQuest customer Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has signed a multiyear renewal to use the SelectSite application. The software offers a configurable, Web-based system for sourcing, requisitioning, and catalog management of laboratory products.

MSDSonline now offers a feature it calls AUTOupdate for subscribers to MSDSadvantage services. Users no longer have to search for updated material safety data sheets to keep their MSDS libraries current and in regulatory compliance. AUTOupdate automatically alerts users storing their MSDSs in online binders when newer MSDS versions are available in the MSDSonline database. The database contains more than 800,000 manufacturer-original MSDS documents.

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Marketplaces

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ChemConnect, which operates an electronic marketplace for chemicals and plastics, has announced that Clariant, Crompton, and Lonza have signed subscription agreements. The firms will use ChemConnect's negotiation tools and services for indirect and direct materials purchases. ChemConnect says it has recently enhanced its online trading center and auction capabilities to allow for more complex transactions. It has also pledged its full support for the Chemical Industry Data eXchange (CIDX) Chem eStandards. ChemConnect will support its members' business processes by implementing documents compliant with the CIDX standards. These include documents for financial activities, order fulfillment, logistics, collaborative planning, and forecasting. ChemConnect provides back-end connectivity tools and services based on electronic messages that are developed by CIDX for the buying, selling, and delivery of chemicals. CIDX just recently released version 3.0 of the standards.

Omnexus, the plastics industry e-marketplace, will bundle and resell Clerity's customer support expertise application as part of its technology services. Omnexus customized Clerity's software to create a TechCenter that lets users contact industry experts and then manages and archives this information. With the new software, plastics industry users can create TechCenters for their own private e-marketplaces. Omnexus also has extended its online excess materials surPLUS Center into Europe. The center offers a searchable catalog of discounted prime and nonprime inventory from North American and European resin suppliers.

cc-chemplorer, which operates an electronic marketplace for indirect goods and services for the process industry, has launched an updated portal. The portal is available in five languages and expands services for registered users, including a management tool for tracking orders and reporting on transaction and other data. Marketplace participants can now control user rights and roles--that is, information technology administrators of participating companies can directly determine which employees are authorized to use particular services. Founding cc-chemplorer members are BASF, Bayer, chemfidence GmbH, Degussa, Deutsche Telekom, Henkel, and SAPMarkets.

SpecialChem, a site for polymer additives, has added DuPont's packaging and industrial polymers unit to its online technical expertise platform. The platform is designed to serve customers in the plastics industry with information and opportunities for collaborative product development. DuPont will provide information on ethylene copolymer-based modifiers, including impact modifications and applications, and on polymeric adhesion promoters and compatibilizers. Another SpecialChem partner, Ciba Specialty Chemicals, now provides expertise and technical assistance for colorants as part of its online offering on the site. Ciba already furnishes information on antioxidants, UV stabilizers, and fluorescent whitening agents.

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Companies

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Dow Chemical's pharmaceutical services and Haltermann custom processing business units have new websites. The pharmaceutical services site describes its development and manufacturing services and outsourcing capabilities. Detailed laboratory and manufacturing facility overviews are included, along with literature and case histories. The business provides process development, methods development, analytical services, manufacturing, and scale-up for pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry custo-mers. At the custom processing site, customers find a list of chemistries, polymerizations, and technologies that the contract development and manufacturing services unit provides. Literature or follow-up from a customer service representative can be requested. Created in 2001, Dow's custom processing business combines its Dow contract manufacturing services with Haltermann, Hampshire Chemical, and Mitchell Cotts Chemicals operations to serve companies in the fine and specialty chemicals and polymer industries. Its capabilities range from lab to commercial scale, including process development.

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E-Business is written by Ann Thayer, who can be reached at a_thayer@acs.org.

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