By combining the security and performance of the intranet with the access and reach of the Internet, an extranet helps to conduct safe and cost-effective business transactions with any industry partner located anywhere, at any time. There are other areas in which a chemical company can access new markets by forming a partnership with an electronic exchange. A few exchanges offer buying and selling of commodity chemicals and can be used to dispose of excess inventory or provide specialty, high-value products to a broad customer base. Alternatively, for small-quantity orders of production or nonproduction items, an exchange can bring several small buyers together to take advantage of volume discounts. As mentioned before, some exchanges have started to offer back-end integration to the ERP or billing system, making it easier and cheaper to conduct business.
Companies can also use Internet-based technologies for internal communications.
The company intranet is a valuable tool for providing information ranging from price lists to details of employee benefits. One of the biggest advantages of intranets is that information can be updated instantaneously, which is especially useful for time-sensitive materials such as price lists and product brochures. Employees can access the company's intranet site from anywhere in the world using the Internet. What the future will bring The Internet and e-commerce are changing the way business is conducted in the chemical industry. Customers already expect, and in some cases have begun to demand, electronic transaction capabilities.