STRATEQ BUSINESSHUB SDN BHD - eProcurement & eSourcing Solution Provider

1. What is e-Procurement?

Very Simply, e-procurement combines Internet technology and procurement best practices to streamline the purchasing process and reduce cost.

Essentially, e-Procurement enables the online ordering of goods and services in order to improve or accelerate purchasing process and reduce cost. This capability can be aligned through a web-based solution that is fast, affordable and easy-to-use. Thus, e-Procurement facilitates greater contract compliance, better prices from vendors, better accuracy of orders, reduction of delivery times, and faster payment through precise matching of invoices and purchase orders.

2. How many users are onboard the eMarketplace currently?

Over 2,500 users comprising of buyers and vendors are registered with us.

3. What is the registration process for participation?

For more information on the registration process and forms, please email us at support.bizhub@strateqgrp.com (please refer to question No. 14)

4. How much will it cost and how long will it take to setup before my company can use the system on the eMarketplace?

The duration and the costs of the change process will vary from organization to organization, depending on the nature, complexity and size of the procurement processes and the extent of streamlining of work processes, catalogue uploading and the need for systems integration. The typical process to get a user ‘live’ in the e-marketplace is about 7 working days. However it may take longer if the process is more complicated especially for those having own private license software.

5. Does STRATEQ BUSINESSHUB accommodate a private trading system?

Yes, STRATEQ BUSINESSHUB enables a community of which buyers trade with a preferred pool of vendors.

6. As a buyer, how do I determine what options are suitable for me; hosted application of licensed software?

It all depends on how frequent you trade with your suppliers and how fast do you want to acquire your Return On Investments (ROI). We have consultants who are able to assist you in determining which system is suitable based on your requirements and budget.

7. What is the cost of integration to the buyer’s backend system?

It depends on the extent and complexity of integration. For simple integration, it would be minimal costs. A separate study would be necessary to determine the total costing for system integration. Our customers can be rest assured that we have had the experience and expertise to integrate to ERP and legacy systems.

8. Is it possible for vendors to view other vendor's prices?

No. Vendors are not able to view other vendor's prices in the online e-catalog. Vendors can offer different prices to different buyers. Each buyer sees its own special price, not those offered to others.

9. How would STRATEQ BUSINESSHUB ensure security of trading information?

STRATEQ BUSINESSHUB security architecture is designed to address Network Security, Transaction Security and Internet Security.

• Network Security - STRATEQ BUSINESSHUB servers are hosted in STRATEQ Data Center with state of art security system that operates round the clock on 24 x 7 basis. Firewalls and filtering routers are installed to establish a barrier between the corporate and STRATEQ BUSINESSHUB network and the external Internet. Audit trail is available in STRATEQ BUSINESSHUB system.

• Transaction Security - Transaction confidentiality and message confidentiality is accomplished using encryption that secures the communications link between computers. STRATEQ BUSINESSHUB adopts 128 bits SSL protocol to provide privacy for data flowing between clients and servers. STRATEQ BUSINESSHUB ensures information integrity by adopting error detection codes, checksums, sequence numbers, and encryption techniques operating on the entire message or selected fields within the message. Transaction security can further strengthen by using Digital Signatures and Digital Certificates. The vendor is assured that the data it receives is from an authorized buyer.

• Internet Security - To ensure Internet security, methods adopted include firewall for perimeter security, authentication of users and servers and 128 bits Secure Sockets Layer encryption.

10. For SMEs, would integration to their backend be a concern?

For SMEs without backend system, they can enjoy substantial savings by using STRATEQ BUSINESSHUB eMarketplace system, which is a hosted e-Procurement solution to automate their procurement process. For more information please e-mail us at support.bizhub@strateqgrp.com

11. What are the benefits for organizations joining STRATEQ BUSINESSHUB eMarketplace as buyers?

The benefits for buyers:

• Ability to enforce organization-buying policy.
• Opportunity to conduct business process re-engineer, thereby streamlining the procurement process.
• Substantial saving in procurement cost. Research has shown a 5% to 15% industry average savings on indirect materials [e.g. office supplies, maintenance, repairs & operations (MRO)] procurement over e-commerce.
• Faster turnaround time for procurement.
• Able to achieve better budgeting and expenditure management through the control of purchasing activities and tracking of purchasing patterns.
• Higher service levels from suppliers due to better contract terms based on fact based negotiations and the power of aggregated demand.
• Integrated process from ordering to invoicing and to payment.
• Frees the procurement department to do negotiation, contracting and monitoring of suppliers' contracts, instead of handling tedious and mundane paperwork and approval process that make up part of the organisation's procurement activities too.

12. What are the benefits for organizations joining STRATEQ BUSINESSHUB eMarketplace as vendors?

The benefits for vendors:

• New sales channel - by selling through the Internet, suppliers can reach out to more companies than before. Selling through the Internet is cheap, hassle-free and fast.
• Lower order processing costs - eliminates the hassle of generating paper documents during order processing. This also reduces the probability of human error in normal order processing.
• Flexible catalogue management - gives suppliers the flexibility and capability to control their catalogues in real-time.
• Inventory control - suppliers can better manage their inventory to fit their ordering periods. This can translate to significant savings in storage costs.
• Faster turnaround for payment - no more paper handling as invoice is delivered to buyer electronically and there will also be a payment prompter for buyer.

13. What is the minimum hardware and software requirement to participate?

• Personal Computer (Pentium III 500 MHz, Ram 128 MB, Hard disk 100 MB Free, 56k Modem, Window 98)
• Internet Access and Email
• Kompakar eTransact facility subscription

14. Who do I contact if I require more information or services?

For any assistance required, please contact our Customer Service at : -

Tel : (+603) 7954 7311

Fax : (+603) 7954 7322

e-mail : support.bizhub@strateqgrp.com