ابزار حراج معکوس الکترونیکی در وب برای B2B

The processes of reverse auctions have proved useful and beneficial to both businesses and governments. The development of software applications in the field of B2B represents a challenging task for emerging economies. This paper presents various concepts, design stages, development and implementation of a particular reverse auction solution. A website construction, namely www.almejor.com, is the result of private initiatives in conjunction with university workforce. The joint efforts resulted in an innovative application in the context of E-procurement. The tool ensures the existence of an effective channel to improve processes between suppliers and customers. This is a web-environment solution that facilitates management of purchases through reverse auction.

Economic globalization has led markets to find new tools so as to set up new businesses and so has promoted the introduction of new communication technologies that favor a transition process from traditional economy to electronic-based economies. In this context, the incorporation of ICT implies adopting an organizational redesign approach intended to change the traditional administrative techniques and replace them with other strategies that integrate knowledge and information systems. The new tools and applications that result in enhanced connectivity, together with particular web relationships, are also changing the expectations of people, both as commercial consumers and as citizens. The influence of technological changes goes beyond the specific applications that merely improve governmental efficiency, also improving transparency and response capabilities. Information technology has a great potential to change power hierarchies and responsibilities as well as controlling governmental processes, private-sector organizations and citizens [1]. Critical factors to implement innovative processes based on e-commerce models include ICT acquisition by companies and the ability of human resources to work with such tools [2]. The impact of e-commerce as a driver of strategic decisions within the B2B (Business to Business) domain is well documented. There is consensus about the influence of the Internet as a platform for the development of alternative/supplementary distribution channels [3]. In recent reports [4], namely América Economía Intelligente, a second part of studies about e-commerce in Latin America was published. These studies focused on the structural factors that determine the region's potential in terms of e-commerce. The potentiality of the whole region experienced an increase of 33% when compared to previous years, placing particular emphasis on economical growth, which requires improvements in aspects like technological adaptation, infrastructure, market volume, access to banking services and the strengthening of the local demand. With the emergence of the Internet, and considering the impact of information and communication technologies on any market, many enterprises and public institutions have opened new opportunities for saving costs and increase efficiency supported by electronic-trading sites. In many organizations, procurement costs constitute a major part of the total costs. Buyers look for lower prices of goods and services, faster purchasing cycles, shorter order processing and fulfillment cycles as well as lower administrative costs. On the other hand, suppliers wish to have new distribution channels, a wider customer data base, and new means to increase sales, reduce excess inventory, and reduce the cost of goods/services for sale. The use of E-procurement applications is expected to provide these benefits for both buyers and suppliers [5]. Through the use of technological tools we will propose an e-commerce-based model, which will facilitate interaction and control through an electronic business portal (website). This portal is intended to develop commercial aspects and production services throughout a particular supply chain.

Reverse electronic auction offers benefits such as cost savings for organizations, increased competition, real -time market pricing, time savings, process efficiency, an increased number of suppliers, and sustainability of cost savings, among other benefits. Moreover, reverse auctions allow vendors to improve access to new markets and new competitors while working toward ensuring a fair playing field in which small businesses can effectively compete. Electronic Reverse Auctions have become a strategic sourcing toolkit, allowing goods and services that are highly standardized to have sufficient volume and to be replicated by a reasonable number of qualified competitors, entailing insignificant switching costs. Unlike procurement in the private sector, public sector procurement requires bureaucratic procedures to be followed due to the very nature of such institutions. A key characteristic of the public sector lies in the regulation of procurement processes by local, regional, national and international authorities. The solution presented herein is the result of an academic initiative intended for business ventures in both the public and private sector.