9.5 E-PROCUREMENT
In the mid to late 90s, business-to-business automation was considered a trend that would have a profound impact on supply chain performance. Between 1998 and 2000, hundreds of e-markets were established in dozens of industries, from chemicals and steel to utilities and human resources. These marketplaces promised, among other things, increased market reach for both buyers and suppliers, reduced procurement costs, and paperless transactions. Indeed, companies such as Ariba and CommerceOne were founded on the premise that e-procurement software that auto-mates the requisitioning process will be able to reduce processing cost per order from as high as $150 per order to as low as $5 per order