The concept is to develop collaborative commerce infrastructure as an electronic marketplace for motorcycle shops, spare-parts retailers and related businesses such as repair shops and service centres. The idea came from the problem of old stock worth Bt10 billion spread across about 20,000 motorcycle and parts shops throughout the country.

ATSI president Anukul Tamprasirt said that initially the project would be a cooperative effort with MEs 007 Plus, a group of motorcycle-related businesses, to implement an electronic marketplace and to enable members to collaborate electronically.

"Technology and software will help them overcome obstacles and enable motorcycle and parts businesses, most of them quite small, to have better cost performance with the use of technology and software developed locally," said Anukul.

He said the new marketplace would also create new markets for local software vendors to provide development and services for each motorcycle and parts business.

The businesses will require software for their online front-office and back-office systems to collaborate in the electronic marketplace, he explained.

 The infrastructure will be launched in November and aims to support 4,500 motorcycle and parts shops within three years.

Tanat Sriprang, business development vice president of the group, said the total motorcycle and parts industry is valued at about Bt100 billion per year, of which around Bt40 billion is the cost of spare parts and services. "Another Bt10 billion is tied up in obsolete stock, which is just waste," he said.

The electronic marketplace is also to help motorcycle and parts manufacturers better estimate market demands with more accurate and more realistic forecasts. This will create more efficiency in the whole supply chain for the industry.

Asina Pornwasin 

The Nation