Modern Plastics and Principia Partners Join Forces on e-business In Plastics Industry Study

    NEW YORK, Jan. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Modern Plastics and Principia Partners
 announced today their collaboration on a study of e-business strategies in the
 plastics industry.
     The plastics industry is rapidly adopting the use of the Internet to
 conduct business in the 21st century.  To date, the use of the worldwide web
 has been primarily focused on information sharing to make buyers aware of
 product and service offerings.  However, the Internet represents a
 revolutionary channel to market that offers equal access to the global
 marketplace for suppliers -- both large and small.  This natural evolution of
 the technology will reinvent the way companies interact with customers --
 improving connectivity -- and transact business.
     Technology is currently available to conduct traditional business
 activities in an electronic environment, and new applications are developing
 to ease electronic transactions.  Simple needs such as access to product
 literature and technical support are a keystroke away.  Reliability, security,
 and speed will continue to develop, and enable more sophisticated business
 processes to be offered via the Internet.
     Every plastics industry player must have an e-strategy to succeed in the
 seamless world market served by the Internet.  Many companies have chosen to
 develop their own web site, while others have aligned with third party
 e-businesses to serve the market.  These approaches will have varying degrees
 of impact on a company's competitive position and ability to prosper from the
 added value offered to the customer.
     An understanding of the cost-to-serve and total investment required to
 launch and maintain an e-commerce system is a critical determinant of the
 success of your e-business.  This study will identify and validate the winning
 formulas and business models for successful participation in e-business.  This
 time-critical information will be insightful for planning and decision-making
 about e-business opportunities.  The plastics industry is at a critical
 juncture in its e-business life cycle; industry participants must be fast to
 market to realize the commercial value provided by a well-defined Internet
 strategy.  Rapid changes occur in an Internet year, and those companies
 positioned to take advantage of the opportunity will benefit from this timely
 study.
     The Modern Plastics/Principia Partners study, titled "E-Business: The
 E-volution of the Plastics Industry" will be released in April 2000, and will
 include three major components including:
 
     -- e-Strategy report -- How suppliers are currently using the Internet to
         serve customers and conduct business, and how they plan to use
         e-business in the future
     -- Value drivers -- What electronic business services processors and OEMs
         are seeking from suppliers on the Internet, and what features and
         functionalities are valued
     -- Web tracking -- On-going assessment of the features and functionality
         actually offered on supplier's sites and how these services change
         each quartertudy will be invited to
 participate in an Executive Forum to be informed of early findings from the
 study and participate in round-table discussions with others to share
 e-commerce experiences, problems and solutions.
     Modern Plastics (New York, NY) is the premier trade publication in the
 plastics industry, with an extensive circulation among business management,
 manufacturing, and R&D personnel.  Thomas Nuebling, Modern Plastics' Vice
 President/Publisher, comments, "Modern Plastics and Principia Partners present
 the ideal combination of fresh industry perspective and market research
 expertise to properly execute this informative and timely study.  We strongly
 believe that speed is essential in helping companies make the right decisions
 quickly before the window closes on the opportunity."
     Principia Partners (Exton, PA) is a market research and consulting firm
 focused on the plastics and materials industries.  The firm has closely
 monitored and advised leading plastics companies on the opportunities and
 hurdles in incorporating the Internet as part of their overall business
 strategy.  Lou Rossi, Director at Principia Partners, states that "the study
 will leverage the benefits of the Internet to collect robust end-user needs
 input through an on-line interactive survey at Modern Plastics'
 web site.  The results will be an important tool to provide suppliers of
 plastics, additives, and processing equipment with an understanding of the key
 issues in designing and implementing an e-business strategy."
     For more information, please visit Modern Plastics' web site at
 www.modplas.com or Principia Partners' web site at
 www.principiaconsulting.com.
     CONTACT:  Thomas Nuebling of Modern Plastics, 212-904-4387, or
 tnuebling@modplas.com, or Lou Rossi of Principia Partners, 610-458-3738, or
 lrossi@principiaconsulting.com.
 
 

SOURCE  Modern Plastics