What’s trending – B2B Sharing Economy
The B2B sharing economy is a burgeoning business sector in which companies share physical or intangible resources with each other. Sharing is already common in certain sectors, such as the aviation industry where airlines share planes, and the agricultural sector where machinery is shared. More sectors and industries are beginning to realise the benefits that this model yields.
Why is it important?
In 2015, PwC projected the sharing economy would grow from $15 billion in 2013 to $335 billion by 2025. There are many benefits to businesses sharing resources, reduced costs being the most obvious. Companies can reduce their capital expenditure by renting instead of owning some of their equipment. KREATIZE Manufacturing Services (KMS) is a platform
offering mechanical engineering companies and manufacturing partners services from complete order processing to the delivery of industrial components. It boasts savings of 17% and a faster time to market. The reduction of wastage and a reduced ecological footprint are other benefits of this business model. Convoy is an AI-based digital freight network which bundles multiple truckloads into a single job for a driver, thereby reducing empty miles from trucks that are driving without a load. Cohealo saves health systems money by sharing equipment between facilities, increasing equipment availability, eliminating rentals, and reducing capital expenses.
What can businesses do about it?
There are sharing platforms that can assist businesses that want to connect. FLOOW2 has developed a business-to-business sharing marketplace that offers a ‘matchmaking’ service. The platform is built as a user-friendly tool that simplifies asset sharing, connecting and participating with other companies. For the retail organisation COS, they have created an internal sharing marketplace to share retail store interior items between their stores in France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg. B2B sharing generates economic, social and ecological benefits and companies would do well to assess if areas of their businesses would benefit from this strategy.
By Faeeza Khan
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Image credit: Julius Silver
