The European e-Business Report 2004 - Berlecon Research GmbH

The European E-Business Report 2004between colleagues or perform collaborative work in an online environment. More specific internalbusiness processes are quite rare. All types of online support of internal business processes are usedless frequently than in the all-sector average.ERP: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are used by a small minority of craft firms (4%), asin the other sectors (5%). However, the share of craft firms with 10-49 employees reporting the use ofan ERP system was 7% which is higher than the other sectors’average. This higher level is not onlycaused by small electrical machinery and electronics crafts (14%) and transport equipment crafts(10%) in the sample, but also by relatively high levels of ERP use in wood and furniture manufacturingfirms with 10-49 employees (10%).Electronic procurement and supply chain integrationElectronic procurement: In total, enterprises comprising 24% of employees in the craft and tradesector make online purchases. Of the former, 60% purchase maintenance, repair and operation(MRO) goods online, and an equal share (59%) direct production goods. The share of onlinepurchasers varies widely between countries. It is much higher in Germany and the UK, for example,than in Southern European countries and in most of the new Member States.Companies can use various media to purchase online. Most important are suppliers’websites. Craftfirms comprising 83% of employment use this method. B2B marketplaces (19%) and suppliers’extranets (21%) are less important but notable, while Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is used in anegligible share of companies. The interviewees were asked what has been their experience of theeffect of online procurement. The reduction of procurement costs appears to be the most beneficialimpact of craft firms’ purchasing online activities. Enterprises representing 11% of employmentreported very positive effects in this respect, 45% reported fairly positive effects.Supply chain integration: Due to the small size of craft firms, supply chain integration is lessdeveloped than in sectors with large enterprises. However, when only considering firms that actuallymake online purchases, about one in four firms has integrated its IT system with that of a supplier.This is more than on average in the other nine sectors.Exhibit 2.5-5: Electronic procurement and supply chain integration craft and trade sectorsMake onlinepurchasesOnline purchasesaccount for atleast 5% of totalvolumeIT system isintegrated withthat of a supplierfor placing ordersUse an SCM(Supply ChainManagement)systemSector total (EU-5) N=1,414 N=1,414 N=1,414 N=1,414% of employment 24 10 6 3% of enterprises 21 10 5 20-9 employees 20 10 5 210-49 employees 25 9 6 4All (9) Sectors (EU-5) N=4516 N=4516 N=4516 N=4516% of employment 46 23 8 6% of enterprises 31 18 6 2Base (100%): all enterprises. EU-5 (DE, ES, FR, IT, UK). Weighting: Figures for size-bands in % of enterprises. Figures fortotals are weighted by employment ("enterprises comprising … % of employees"). Reporting period: November 2003.Customer facing processesSource: e-Business W@tch (2004)Enterprises representing one third (32%) of craft employment and one quarter of craft enterprises(25%) have a website on the Internet. Only a small fraction of those uses a content managementsystem to update and maintain the site. The share of craft firms that sell online is very small − onlyaround 3% in both weighting schemes. Of those firms selling online, around one third (31%) offersonline payment of goods or services ordered and also one third (34%) has an online sales system withsecure transactions capability.126