The Hindu Business Line : Metaljunction aims to make BPO its mainstream business

IN pursuance of its objective to emerge as a BPO company in the steel sector, Metaljunction Services Ltd (MSL) - the public limited avatar of the erstwhile MetalJunction.com Pvt Ltd - will offer end-to-end solutions for collection and sale of a range of secondary products of Tata Steel.

The Rs 450-crore business was previously managed by the secondary steel products division of Tata Steel.

Created as an e-commerce joint venture between Tata Steel and SAIL, MSL is aiming to make BPO operations as its mainstream business in the long run.

Talking to Business Line, the company's Managing Director, Mr V. Oberoi, said that as per the latest agreement finalised on December 1, 2004, the company would be responsible for collecting and selling non-prime ferrous and non-ferrous, products, by-products, capital goods and spares and a host of such other items for Tata Steel.

"We will henceforth be collecting such materials right from the factory, send those which could be reused to the appropriate shop, segregate the rest for selling and also collect the sale proceeds," Mr Oberoi said.

MSL was previously associated with the business as a provider of e-platform, while the entire job of documentation and collection of proceeds used to be handled by Tata Steel.

"While the new development will expand Metaljunction's business activity from merely being an on-line services provider to facilitator of complete physical infrastructure including warehouses, logistics and payment collection, Tata Steel could also unlock values by outsourcing the secondary steel products activity and concentrate more on the core competence in primary steel business."

Meanwhile, MSL is gearing up to launch an e-retailing initiative for Tata Steel in March 2005. As per the project, MSL will create virtual stocks at the depots maintained by Tata Steel and sell these to the end customer or retailer by arrangement with a logistics provider. The initiative is expected to replace the existing multi-layered distribution system.

On the planned high seas trading of nickel and tin, Mr Oberoi said that the project would be taken up at a later date.

More Stories on : Outlook | Steel | Outsourcing

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