Exchanges can benefit suppliers.

As DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors educate suppliers about their forthcoming online marketplace, a clearer picture of the exchange's role is emerging. The still unnamed Web-based exchange is being compared to a three-legged stool, an amusing metaphor given its complexity. Nevertheless, a stool nicely symbolizes the exchange's three primary functions - procurement, product development and supply-chain management. While procurement gets most of the attention, the prospect of using the exchange to speed product development intrigues and excites suppliers. Product development may best answer for the supplier, ``What's in this for me?'' ``The Tier 1 and 2 …