 |
 |
|
|
ContractorHub.com Launches Comprehensive E-Commerce Exchange to Streamline
Procurement of Construction Materials and Services for the
$725 Billion US Construction Market
ContractorHub.com Offers the First Online Exchange with Full Payment Capabilities and a Negotiated Pricing Model for the Construction Industry
Kirkland, Wash – April 3, 2000 – ContractorHub.com, the most comprehensive business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce exchange for the construction industry, announced today the launch of the most complete online exchange to simplify the procurement of materials and services for the construction industry. For first time ever, contractors and suppliers can complete their procurement transactions online using the ContactorHub.com exchange at www.contractorhub.com. The site leverages the power of the Internet to help contractors to increase margins and productivity by streamlining the bidding, materials management, procurement and payment processes by enabling them to interact and communicate with suppliers and manufacturers through a central location or hub. The exchange is immediately available to contractors and suppliers.
Co-founded by Karim Khoury, a CPA by trade who grew up in the construction industry, ContractorHub.com has assembled strong management and advisory teams with diverse experience in construction, business and technology. Their chairman, Robert Tinstman, who served as president and CEO of Morrison Knudsen Corporation (NYSE: MK), a multi-billion dollar international engineering, contracting, mining and manufacturing company, left retirement to work with ContractorHub.com to help improve the way the construction industry does business.
“ContractorHub.com’s team has the experience, understanding and relationships to deliver the tools needed to improve the way the construction industry does business,” said Robert Tinstman, chairman of ContractorHub.com. “After 25 years in the business, I can see that ContractorHub.com will be a leader in this enormous market.”
ContractorHub.com allows contractors and suppliers to negotiate competitive pricing and issue online payment for materials, commodity or specified items and services using the Trade Acceptance Draft (TADtm) Program from Actrade Capital, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Actrade International, Ltd. (NASDAQ: ACRT). The TAD Program enables contractors to make online purchases in high dollar volumes and enables suppliers to receive payment within 48 hours. ContractorHub.com services are free for major contractors. Suppliers pay a small transaction fee, based on the CSI code and material costs, to use the service.
Contractors simply log into the site, place their orders, and ContractorHub.com instantly transmits their requests to either a national network of suppliers, or to their own private procurement network. Responding suppliers dispatch their bids through ContractorHub.com where contractors can review and sort the results. Once an order is completed, ContractorHub.com helps lower costs by minimizing data entry and errors, automating the transaction process, managing cash flow, aggregating purchasing power and eliminating hours of paperwork. Additionally, ContractorHub.com helps manage the flow of materials to customer job sites.
“The construction industry is a highly fragmented and complex market that is enormously competitive, said Karim Khoury, CEO and co-founder of ContractorHub.com. “It is ripe for the development of new technologies that will provide tremendous value in saving time and money. ContractorHub.com will leverage existing relationships between contractors and suppliers and combine it with the tools to improve the way business will be conducted in the construction industry.”
Simple and Powerful E-Commerce Tools for Contractors and Suppliers
ContractorHub.com gives contractors access to the most comprehensive, value-added Internet solution while providing suppliers access to an established customer base and more efficient payment process. The benefits of ContractorHub.com include:
- Streamlined Procurement. ContractorHub.com’s e-procurement solution provides contractors and suppliers with an easier, faster and less expensive way to obtain construction materials and service. For every dollar spent procuring materials today, an additional 6% is spent using the telephone and fax machine to correct unnecessary errors and tracking orders. ContractorHub.com’s exchange allows contractors and suppliers to conduct business via a collaboration system that facilitates communication and the exchange of documents via a central location.
- Material Sourcing. Often, contractors are forced to spend a considerable amount of time locating specific materials for a project. Contractors can use ContractorHub.com which provides the tools to allow them to locate the materials and services quickly and easily. If a product stock is low within a given geographic area, ContractorHub.com helps contractors locate the material quickly and easily across the country.
- Order Management. Today contractors must pick up the phone or send an email to suppliers and manufacturers to determine the status of an order. The process is labor intensive, for each time an update is required, an additional request must be made. ContractorHub.com provides a forum that allows contractors and suppliers to track and update the status of an order and ensure that production and shipments are on schedule and that both parties save time and money.
- Aggregation of Purchasing Power. Contractors today typically purchase materials on a project-by-project basis and do not have the tools necessary to aggregate purchasing power across the organization. As a result, it is common that a number of projects within an organization will purchase the same materials independent from one another and never achieve the price gains that can be reached only by pooling their transactions. ContractorHub.com provides contractors with the tools to track and aggregate inter-company purchasing that will provide the opportunity to lower material and processing costs.
- Payment Solutions. An e-procurement solution shouldn’t stop at the point a purchase order is issued. A true e-procurement solution should incorporate payment and fulfillment services in order to deliver a complete service offering. The TAD program allows qualified buyers to receive an unsecured revolving credit facility, with terms up to 180 days, while providing the supplier with guaranteed payment within 48 hours.
- Industry News Delivery. ContractorHub.com compliments these services with news, information and community resources to provide a compelling and complete solution for its users. Contractors and suppliers have access to the news that affects their business and helps them make informed decisions on how to respond to industry trends and developments.
More About Enabling Online Payment with the TAD Program
The Trade Acceptance Draft (TADtm) Program from Actrade is a standardized B2Bs payment option that facilitates large online commercial transactions and strengthens relationships between suppliers and buyers. The TAD Program satisfies the basic requirements of any online commercial transaction: financing, credit protection, collections and security. The patented process allows TADs to clear through the banking system in a secure manner, similarly to the way a check is processed.
About ContractorHub.com
ContractorHub.com is a business-to-business e-commerce exchange that simplifies the procurement and payment processes for the construction industry. ContractorHub.com's comprehensive exchange gives contractors the most efficient method for procuring materials and services and suppliers, wholesalers and manufacturers access to an established customer base. Since its inception in 1999, the Kirkland, Washington based company has attracted a core group of general contractors, large subcontractors and suppliers. For more information, please visit ContractorHub.com on the web at www.contractorhub.com
|
|
|
