Trading exchange PartMiner Inc. and e-marketplace consortium e2open.com LLC last week announced they have forged a partnership that gives e2open users access to PartMiner's content, while PartMiner will serve as the exclusive provider of hard-to-find parts-sourcing services.

Under the terms of the deal, PartMiner will join e2open as a technology partner, contributing to e2open its transaction technology, its parts database, its hard-tofind components service and its fulfillment capabilities. The deal is effective this week and the two firms have agreed to a three-year commitment.

e2open was founded in August by a group of 10 industry heavy-hitters - Acer, IBM, Hitachi, LG Electronics, Lucent Technologies, Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic), Nortel Networks, Seagate e Pa Technology, Solectron and Toshiba - with the goal of linking design tools with supply chain and open-market services into a so-called "e-marketplace." At its launch, the consortium promised to plan, manage and execute supply chain transactions.

The site will offer PartMiner's exchange technology to engineers and purchasing managers so that they can research, source and buy products online. e2open will integrate PartMiner's component catalog into offerings provided by third-party companies. Electronic News' parent company, Cahners Business Information, holds an equity position in N.Y.-based PartMiner.

Paul Sterne, chief financial officer at e2open, said one of the first things the consortium did when it was established was to begin working on this deal.

"A vertical e-marketplace probably will succeed or fail on the amount of content it provides," he said, noting that this content will allow engineers to swap drawings and offer online auctions for parts. "We saw PartMiner completing the continuum of services that e open wanted to provide to its members."

For PartMiner, this deal provides access to huge companies in the electronics industry at the point at which they need hard-to-find parts.

"e2open is clearly in a position to be a leader... we see their business model as being collaborative, and (this deal) offered us the ability to go in and partner with a company that has the commitment of such significant companies," said Dan Nissanoff, PartMiner chief executive officer. Member companies are "all in this space. They all need components. This is going to supercharge our business model."

e2open was formed by electronics industry leaders and the venture capital firms Crosspoint Venture Partners and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter to develop an exchange for the electronics industry based upon industry standards. e2open's basic services are open for use, though access to certain services may require membership. The company has raised $200 million in funding.

e2open was the second mega-- consortium formed by electronics companies this year. In May, the High-Tech Exchange (a temporary name) announced plans to launch an Internet exchange focused on the supply chain. The group plans to offer open sourcing, e-catalogs, supply planning, logistics and auctions.