Five of Australia's largest corporations have combined to create a new online procurement buying hub, to be called Cyberlynx.
Commonwealth Bank Group, Woolworths, Lion Nathan, Telecom New Zealand Group (comprised of AAPT and TCNZ Australia) and EDS Australia have signed a heads of agreement to build the hub, which is likely to compete with the likes of corProcure in magnitude.
The newly-formed partnership, Cyberlynx Procurement Services, will be funded by Commonwealth bank (29 per cent), Woolworth's (29 per cent), Lion Nathan (19.4 per cent), Telecom NZ/AAPT (16.1 per cent), and EDS (6.5 per cent) and will build a common procurement platform around the Ariba B2B Commerce platform. There is also a possibility that more players will become involved at a later date.
The group will spend around $20 million developing the exchange, which is expected to save its participants on sourcing various materials from suppliers. The Commonwealth Bank has indicated that it is likely to save around $250 million in its first five years of operation.
Barry Scott has been appointed as acting chief executive officer for Cyberlynx, and expects the exchange to offer opportunities to a wide variety of Australian businesses.
"Its facilities and services will enable Australian businesses to participate in leading edge internet-based procurement with cost and speed-to-market efficiencies," Scott said. "It is proposed to offer cross-market Internet purchasing opportunities".