7/12/01 - During the hustle and bustle of this year's Paris Air Show, when much of the focus was on the fascinating flame war between Boeing and Airbus, Volvo Aero Services (VAS), probably better known as the AGES Group, made an announcement. 

During the hustle and bustle of this year's Paris Air Show, when much of the focus was on the fascinating flame war between Boeing and Airbus, Volvo Aero Services (VAS), probably better known as the AGES Group, made an announcement. Nothing new in that, there were hundreds, probably thousands of announcements and stories flying around during that busy week in June. However, look closely into the rippling waters and behold the future of B2B in the aerospace industry and indeed every industry may be unfolding just beneath the surface. VAS have partnered with TradeAir, part of the Tracer Corporation, who'll be selling VAS' parts online. Again, you may have missed the vital ingredient here; it's just another partnership. So what?

Think back to the myriad of reports from the desks of the e-industry analysts. Which e-commerce sites are making it? The answer? Bricks and mortar companies with an online portal. Here we have just that in the aerospace industry.

This isn't an online marketplace where the titans line up with each other in ever increasing numbers under the ever-watchful eyes of the anti-trust police. It's two companies getting together to use each other's expertise and facilities, Tradeair's e-commerce abilities and the infrastructure, inventory and the knowledge of VAS.

Of course, like anything else in business this isn't a new concept and it will probably be followed by many more of, in the words of TradeAir CEO Bill Morales: "bricks and clicks," partnerships.

Somewhere along the relatively short road of the Internet and the World Wide Web the idea took hold that e-commerce would replace traditional business. Looking back along that road, which is now littered with failed companies and disgruntled investors, perhaps the truth is only just beginning to shine through. Just because a word has an e- in front of it doesn't automatically make it work.

It's amazing what can be done with computers nowadays. But, at the end of the day a business is there to make money, if those wonderful see all, do all applications aren't going to make profits for the company, there's no point in having them. There's a lot to be said for the old military maxim "keep it simple, stupid." Morales, who is very much a practical man is excited about the deal with VAS and he is determined to make it work.

There's no question that online trading will revolutionize the way in which we do business, forever. Smarter, cheaper, better and faster are all achievable in the new global marketplace. But lets not forget the thousands of years of business lessons that we've learned, most of them are still relevant today. Be smart; look to the past for the way to the future.