Aviation bigwigs name online marketplace
An aviation industry business-to-business exchange jointly owned by buyers and suppliers names the marketplace Cordiem.
Cordiem is the result of the merger of AirNewco, an airline-led business-to-business venture, and MyAircraft, a manufacturer-led exchange. The two companies said last October they would combine their online trading exchanges in a move to cut costs for participating buyers and suppliers.
Founding members of Cordiem, which is based in Washington, D.C., include Air France, American Airlines, BFGoodrich and Honeywell International.
The marketplace's name is derived from "core," the central or most important part, and "diem," which is Latin for the word "day." Cordiem, which will have a phased launch beginning in the second quarter, is designed to operate at the "heart of aviation's supply chain, providing...a Web-based network where aircraft operators, suppliers and repair centers can gather daily to conduct e-business," the company said in a statement.
In what may be one of its last joint deals, the IBM-Ariba-i2 Technologies alliance will provide the technology for Cordiem. The alliance, launched amid much fanfare last March, is on shaky ground, according to analysts, as recent deals cut by members of the alliance minimize its value and could point to its eventual collapse.
The new venture launches amid market shakiness in the business-to-business sector as marketplaces are feeling the effects of hard economic times, as well as a failure by many public consortium marketplaces to get their business models up and running.
Last month, AMR Research said in a report that the private exchange market is expected to surpass the market for public exchange consortiums and become the cornerstone of the $5.7 trillion in commerce performed over the Internet.
Forrester Research is also forecasting a slowdown in consortium marketplaces, estimating that just 200 will be left standing in just a few years.
Because of its joint buyer-supplier ownership model, Cordiem said it believes it will promote better collaboration than is found in other consortium marketplaces traditionally owned by a group of manufacturers or suppliers.