Volkswagen has officially launched an online parts procurement operation, branded the 'VW Group Supply.Com'.

Suppliers can find information on procurement, logistics and quality standards for all eight brands and the three regions of the Volkswagen Group on the new portal. They can click on every application and register themselves with their passwords. A total of 5,500 suppliers have already been using individual elements of the market place for some time. Volkswagen has been sending inquiry and offer documentation since April 1999. The suppliers now have quick access to all components via the new standardized group portal.

500,000 transactions took place this year on Volkswagen's private B2B market place. Nearly the entire procurement volume of more than 50 billion euro of the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen and Volkswagen commercial vehicle brands will be managed via "VW Group Supply.com" in the future.

Many applications, such as interactive negotiations via the internet, are now a daily part of the purchaser's job. Since the summer of 2000 more than 600 online negotiations have been carried out with more than 4,000 suppliers. Currently, 6,000 employees all over the world can order approximately 360,000 different articles directly from 200 suppliers in the catalogue purchase section.

With the help of the capacity management system "eCap," suppliers and the Volkswagen Group can discuss requirements and capacities. This results in lower storing and transport costs for all parties.

"Our suppliers can, primarily through the use of eCap, plan for the longer term, react more quickly and communicate with us more clearly. That means that both sides can increase their competitiveness," said Francisco Javier Garcia Sanz, member of the board of management with responsibility for group procurement.