Dive Brief:

• MerQbiz, an online marketplace for the recovered paper (RCP) market, has teamed with C.H. Robinson to access greater freight capacity, real-time pricing and a strong supply chain network, according to a C.H. Robinson press release. 
• The two companies aim to address daily challenges confronting the $30 billion RCP industry by streamlining, automating and creating transparency within regular buying and selling of recovered paper. Buyers and sellers may now network with one another and access real-time, accurate information about RCP supply and demand. 
• MerQbiz is backed by Voith, a tech company involved in industrial provision of paper, energy and raw materials, as well as BCG Digital Ventures, an investment arm of The Boston Consulting Group. 

Dive Insight:

To achieve the best economic and data-driven efficiency, supply chains require digitization, which not only improve capital availability, but also spurs company growth. MerQbiz stands to benefit from 3PL C.H. Robinson's platform in a variety of ways.

Collaboration between the two companies is critical in increasing the transaction efficiency.

"Our collaboration automates and streamlines manual processes buyers and sellers of recovered paper face. This integrated logistics solution is a game-changer for the industry, as it brings access to unmatched freight capacity, instant shipping quotes, and near-real-time logistics tracking and support," Chris O’Brien, chief commercial officer at C.H. Robinson, told Supply Chain Dive.

The rise of e-commerce has driven the demand for recovered paper, ultimately leading to the need for assistance from C.H. Robinson to meet demand for RCP. "E-commerce has contributed to the value of this model in a few ways — first it does increase market demand," O'Brien noted. "In general, freight is getting smaller, which increases packaging demand, and there is more fiber to recover and in general more trade.

"Secondly, in many ways e-commerce shapes consumer's expectations. And this really is a consumer driven story. What we see in many parts of the supply chain industry that we serve is that our expectations as consumers are translating over to BTB [business-to-business].

"We have come to expect everything online, we expect multiple options, we expect transparency, we expect to order everything easily with one click, we expect it delivered, and we expect to be able to know where our order is at all times," O'Brien explained. "I think that expectation is what merQbiz has tapped into with their model.  And we come in to add the instant digital online track trace delivery experience, and of course the physical supply chain."