INTERNET PROFILE

By Staff -- Purchasing, 4/22/1999

Title: Chief Executive Officer

Company: Fast Parts, an Internet component exchange that allows buyers to search, find, and buy electronic components online.

Professional Background: Haller began his career at IBM as a programmer and later as a salesman. He then worked in the computer department of General Electric and was one of 20 people who helped GE start the computer time-sharing industry. In 1967, he left GE to start his own time-sharing company, which he eventually sold. He started Fast Parts in 1990 and it went online in 1995.

Responsibilities: In addition to running his company, Haller says he is an Internet "evangelist." "There's lots of missionary work we are doing convincing people in the electronics assembly industry that the Internet is a viable business mechanism for buying and selling and that it is secure. The biggest challenge is getting CEOs, other corporate managers, and purchasing and materials people to buy one thing on the Internet. They have to understand that this thing doesn't bite."

Internet and purchasing: "As margins of electronic components shrink, people can't afford the traditional purchasing mechanism where a salesman visits and the buyer demands the lowest price. A buyer needs to see the global marketplace because prices are different in different parts of the world. But imagine if a buyer could go to work everyday and overnight some magic had happened. He checks his qualified parts list and his computer lists update pricing and availabIlity from all his suppliers. It can be done now, and when it becomes common, the Internet is going to change the way businesses do business."

Impact on business: "The Internet will have a more dramatic impact on business in the next five years than the telephone. It's already a great research tool. It's going to be pervasive. As people build more powerful search capabilities, you'll be able to find almost anything you need. Just think about having screen-to-screen interaction with your best customer or your best prospect. People who insist on doing business the old way will find that their business will be hijacked."

Internet standards: "Take a contract manufacturer who buys through franchised distribution. The CM will have three different distributors. When an OEM asks the CM for a quote to build a board, the CM sends out RFQs to the distributors looking for pricing and availability on parts. The distributors must interpret the requests because there are no standards. They send their responses and the CM has to interpret the response. There is an effort under way to come up with a standard format or protocol. It would save time and money."

Internet evolution: "In the not-too-distant future there will be Internet II. The free Internet will still be around, but if you want to move fast or move large files where you need a lot of bandwith, there will be another version of the Internet. It will be like an express service, but you will pay for it. It will be a question of how fast do you want to go? You can go along in a Honda Civic or a Ferrari and there will be similar spread in cost."