Binding the Home System to a Stranger s

Binding the Home System to a Stranger's

The integration of information and business functions is only the first step in effective supply chain management and application integration. Those individuals responsible for automating the supply chain must analyze the available information to determine the required courses of action. The best systems automatically trigger a corresponding transaction by evaluating conditions and providing decision makers with sufficient data to make effective decisions.

The flow of information must be unimpeded among all members of the supply chain. All communication barriers must be removed. The degree of difficulty in creating links to members and opening this flow of information ranges from very low to very high. Most members have information systems in place. This is the upside. The downside is that the types of information retained and the standards they rely upon vary greatly. For example, many information systems are proprietary and fail to provide points of integration. In addition to being difficult to integrate with the supply chain, such proprietary technology results in higher cost and diminished value.

The Internet provides the supply chain with an inexpensive network for sharing information between members. As we have seen, the Web provides the additional benefit of linking unknown users (e.g., customers) into the supply chain. Those responsible for integrating supply chains should look to the Web-enabled customer base as a mechanism to extend supply chain integration, not simply as a link to it.