94 Roadmap to the e-Factory
In fact, a special term, disintermediation, has been coined to describe this
channel fusion.
Disintermediation is the elimination of the intermediaries between a com-
pany and the final user. In traditional industrial product industries, interme-
diaries are the sales and distribution channels that provide the coordination,
selection, communication, and exchange functions with end users. End users
typically purchase through local, independent sales representatives, who pro-
vide technical knowledge, applications assistance, and supplier selection. For
customers with high-volume, repeat purchases, distributors that have local
warehouses provide fast delivery. The sales representatives and the distributors
are intermediaries ...