中石化易派客：搭建数字供应链 构建产业服务生态

EPEC is an industrial goods e-commerce platform built by Sinopec, with over 195,000 registered companies, more than 8 million products online, and cumulative transaction volume of RMB 2.5 trillion. For the general public, its core value is to address pain points such as difficult procurement and information opacity in industrial goods, while offering a set of digitalized procurement practices worth emulating.

1. Pain points in industrial procurement: Traditional industrial products suffer from multiple codes for the same item and inconsistent descriptions. EPEC uses a standard system to precisely evaluate companies and products, making procurement more professional.

2. Practical tools: Yi Auction enables high-price disposal of idle and waste materials, with an average premium rate of 31%; Yi Factoring makes it easier for SMEs to obtain financing based on real transactions; Yi Logistics provides smart logistics solutions.

3. External digital services: It can offer other companies SaaS marketplace, independently deployed procurement systems, and material master data governance, helping upstream and downstream partners achieve digital transformation.

4. Trends: The platform will use AI to build a smart brain for procurement and supply chain management, and expand international business, which will facilitate the globalization of Chinese manufacturing.

Brands care most about how to build trust, expand channels, and avoid price wars in industrial e-commerce; EPEC's approach provides an important reference.

1. Brand endorsement and quality certification: The EPEC standard evaluates companies and products from four dimensions - legal person credit, product quality, fulfillment performance, and market track record. Passing high-standard certification enhances brand credibility; participating in international standards development and upgrading association standards also helps strengthen brand image.

2. Channel building and resource connectivity: The platform integrates product resources covering 2.65 million items under Sinopec framework agreements and interconnects with vertical platforms such as Xiyu and ZKH as well as Ouyeel Industrial. Brands can leverage these channels to reach more industrial customers.

3. Logic of price competition: The platform uses big-data analytics to provide market insights and sourcing decision support, emphasizing professionalism and transparency. Brands should focus on product standardization and fulfillment reputation rather than simply cutting prices.

4. Consumer trend observation: Industrial procurement is moving toward transparency and digitalization. Brands should attach importance to transaction transparency and traceability, and make early moves in green and low-carbon practices and supply chain collaboration.

For industrial goods sellers, EPEC brings clear incremental opportunities, especially in central SOE procurement markets, financial services, and internationalization.

1. Policy and market growth: Backed by Sinopec, the platform has cumulative transaction volume of RMB 2.5 trillion and covers over 80% of industrial product categories. It serves 195,000 companies, 70% of which are SMEs. After joining, sellers can tap into central SOE and social procurement demand, with significant room for growth.

2. Customer acquisition and sales: The platform supports product listing for customer acquisition and offers procurement services such as framework agreements, inquiry and sourcing, and bidding/tender. It also interconnects with channels like JD.com, Xiyu, and ZKH, adding traffic entry points.

3. Financial support: Yi Factoring has provided over RMB 50 billion in cumulative factoring funds. Based on real transactions and credit profiling, it effectively eases the financing difficulties and high financing costs faced by small and medium-sized sellers.

4. Risk alert: The platform upholds the Supply Chain Sunshine Initiative, demanding transaction transparency and credible fulfillment. Sellers must operate in a compliant manner and ensure quality to avoid violation risks.

5. Key takeaways: Yi Auction's premium rate for disposing idle and waste materials reaches as high as 31%; sellers should pay attention to the extra revenue that such value-added services can bring.

As the production end of industrial goods, factories can gain practical insights from the EPEC model on product standardization, digital upgrading, and asset disposal.

1. Product R&D and design needs: The platform uses a standard system to precisely evaluate industrial products, pushing factories to organize production according to unified specifications and quality indicators. At the same time, big-data analytics provide market insights to help factories adjust product design and direction.

2. Digital procurement and e-commerce access: Factories can reuse EPEC's independently deployed procurement systems, material master data governance, and supply chain management consulting to quickly build their own digital procurement capabilities and reduce informatization costs.

3. Business opportunities: EPEC shares 2.65 million high-quality product resources under Sinopec framework agreements, giving factories the opportunity to enter central SOE supply chains. Its international business platform also supports Chinese manufacturing expansion overseas, opening up new markets.

4. Asset revitalization: Factories can dispose of idle and waste materials through Yi Auction, which has processed over RMB 4 billion in cumulative transactions with an average premium rate of about 30%, achieving green recycling and improving asset returns.

Service providers can see from the EPEC case the core playbook of industrial internet: standards + platform + resources + tools, and find replicable directions for technology services.

1. Industry trend: Industrial e-commerce is shifting from simple transactions to digitalized supply chain services. EPEC's SC2B model emphasizes supply chain empowerment of businesses, providing integrated procurement, finance, logistics, and international services.

2. Application of new technologies: The platform uses blockchain to ensure transaction transparency and the Internet of Things to enhance fulfillment credibility. In the future, it will use AI to build a smart brain for procurement and supply chain management, creating broad space for related technology services.

3. Customer pain points: Industrial products suffer from multiple codes for the same item, inconsistent data standards, difficult supply chain financing, and inefficient handling of idle and waste materials - all concrete scenarios where service providers can enter.

4. Solution references: EPEC offers SaaS marketplace, independently deployed procurement systems, material master data governance, and supply chain management consulting, which are worth productizing and exporting by service providers. Its open integration cloud platform, Industrial IoT platform, and data platform can also serve as entry points for ecosystem collaboration.

For e-commerce platform operators, EPEC demonstrates how a central SOE industrial platform moves from internal use to openness, providing a reference architecture and operating rules.

1. Platform positioning and model: EPEC adopts a two-pronged approach combining Sinopec's dedicated procurement marketplace and an open SC2B platform - reducing costs and improving efficiency internally while exporting capabilities externally. It aggregates supply and demand through platform + resources + tools.

2. Merchant recruitment and resource connectivity: The platform shares 2.65 million product resources under Sinopec framework agreements, connects with vertical platforms, central SOE platforms, and third-party platforms such as JD.com, Huawei, and iFlytek, and achieves interoperability of standards, resources, and tools, enabling rapid scaling.

3. Operations management: EPEC uses its standard system to manage suppliers based on dimensions such as legal person credit, product quality, and fulfillment performance, helping safeguard platform reputation and reduce cutthroat competition.

4. Risk mitigation: It promotes the Supply Chain Sunshine Initiative and uses blockchain, IoT, and other technologies to make transactions traceable and verifiable, reducing risks of data fraud and fulfillment disputes.

5. External enablement: It has provided SaaS or independently deployed procurement marketplaces to eight central SOEs and many private enterprises, showing that platform capability export is a sustainable business model.

EPEC is a typical example of a central SOE's digitalized procurement capability exported to the broader market. Researchers should pay attention to its business model, standard governance, and industrial ecosystem building.

1. New industry trend: Central SOE procurement platforms are transforming from internal systems into open industrial internet platforms. With 195,000 registered enterprises and RMB 2.5 trillion in cumulative transaction volume, industrial e-commerce is entering a stage of ecosystem-based competition.

2. New problems and governance: Multiple codes for the same industrial item and inconsistent descriptions are long-standing pain points. EPEC has explored standard governance paths through its EPEC Standard (ES) system, a national innovation base for technical standards, and leader standards. The Supply Chain Sunshine Initiative responds to procurement transparency and integrity risks.

3. Business model innovation: The SC2B model emphasizes supply chain empowerment of businesses, providing procurement, sales, finance, and comprehensive services through platform + resources + tools, and creating diversified value through tools such as Yi Auction and Yi Factoring.

4. Policy and institutional implications: Its standards export and experience in connecting central SOEs with third-party platforms can inform efforts to standardize industrial e-commerce and digitize supply chains. Meanwhile, attention should be paid to the platform's actual effects in easing SME financing difficulties and promoting green and circular practices.