The global spotlight is on Detroit as three of America's top auto manufacturers feel certain that unification and the Internet are passports to future success. Ford, General Motors, and DaimlerChrysler took an unprecedented step with the formation of an Internet auto parts supply exchange. This exchange, an Internet portal that links an online supply-chain, will be the world's largest Internet Company. It is also a key step in the application of Internet technology to traditional industry.

The goal is to make it easier and more cost effective to obtain parts for building cars. By connecting over 30,000 auto parts suppliers with Ford, GM, and DaimlerChrysler, this new Internet auto marketplace will help lower procurement and parts costs. Money will be saved by cutting time and paperwork involved in hundreds of thousands of transactions. Today's purchase orders cost about $100 each; the online method would trim the costs down to only $10. This cut is a big step in streamlining the manufacturing process.

Instead of three separate rival purchasing networks, there will now be a single coherent marketplace. Ford, GM, and DaimlerChrysler are demanding their suppliers and partners use their e-commerce networks to do business with them. There is a double benefit in this "demand." Besides lowering the costs of parts to the auto companies, the newly formed exchange company will get a share of the transaction fees charged for doing business over their system. Charging suppliers a small fee for handling each transaction will produce billions in revenues within a few years. The new exchange is expected to handle $240 billion in annual spending by automakers. The three auto manufacturers will own equal shares in the venture which will operate as a separate independent business.

As exciting as this idea is, the concept could make an enormous impact on commerce if and when the program is replicated for other industries.