Using the Web for Procurement
By Brandee Freitag
Introduction
This paper answers the question: can I use the Web in the logistics
management? In order to answer that question I decided to focus
on a specific example to determine whether Web procurement made
sense. So I asked: Can I order black laser ink for printing words
on buff pads that come right out of the ovens? I used three criteria
to see if I could order black laser ink over the Internet. The three
criteria I used are
- The search should take no more than a half
hour
- I should find at least five (5) companies
to choose from
- The ink should be able to stay on pads that
are 400 degrees Fahrenheit after they come out of the oven and
not rub off on the other pads as they are stacked on top of
each other
As this paper shows, it is possible to order black laser ink over
the Internet, but the ink available does not satisfy my criteria.
Method
I used at five search engines: Excite, HotBot, Netscape, LycosPro,
and Infoseek. I did searches using the words "black laser ink" in
each of the five search engines. I then looked through the results
to determine whether the sites that I found would be helpful.
Results
Table 1 shows that there were no companies that fit the criteria
that I was looking for. I only found companies that sold black laser
ink for computers.
TABLE 1
Ordering Black Laser Ink for Printing Words on Buff Pads |
| Search Engine | Company Names | Minutes in Search | Will the ink work |
| Excite | None | 25 | No |
| HotBot | None | 30 | No |
| Netscape | None | 20 | No |
| LycosPro | None | 30 | No |
| Infoseek | None | 25 | No |
Discussion
One cannot buy laser ink on the Internet for printing on pads. There
may be online suppliers that handle special orders for black laser
ink for printing words on buff pads, but I did not find one. At
the company I worked at this past summer, the ink was specially
ordered to fit the machine and our needs.
