Strategic Supply Chain Management - Supply Chain Online

162 Strategic Supply Chain Management
translate multiple data formats, adding to their complexity and further
limiting their appeal. In short, the world was not ready for the richness of
technology available.
As a result, many of the early B2B “portals” were simply databases
for pushing information. Company A would publish data to a site and then
notify Company B that the information was available—or assume that
Company B would check the site on a regular basis. Company B would
view the information, download it to its own system, and choose whether
or not to take action. In effect, the Internet became an expensive, sophisticated
enabler of electronic data interchange (EDI). The most common
application became online auctions for buying and selling products and
materials. Why Because these applications didn’t demand the systems
and data integration needed for true collaboration.
After the dot-com collapse, many collaboration tools addressed a narrower
focus—supply chain execution rather than long-term planning. This
narrowed focus mitigated the risk of information sharing, helped automate
many manual processes, and allowed companies to work in real time.
Today’s collaboration tools focus
on supply chain event management and on
Today’s collaboration
tools focus on supply
chain event
management and on
relationships
between customers
and suppliers.
relationships between customers and suppliers.
As technology advances and companies
become better prepared for the
rigorous data maintenance needed for supply
chain collaboration, the promise of
these new applications may soon become a
reality. It’s important to use these tools sensibly.
While they can improve the flow of
information and aid decision making, they
can’t compensate for suboptimal processes
or the expertise of a seasoned supply chain
professional. A good collaborative system
can gather data and make recommendations based on a predefined set of
business rules, but it can’t gauge the applicability of those rules to the
current situation or calculate the effect of an inappropriate demand on a
supply chain partner.
Nonetheless, technology is a critical element of most coordinated and
synchronized collaborative relationships and many cooperative relationships.
Remember that technology is an enabler, not the driver of success.
To make your technology investment pay off, make sure that your organization
is set up to leverage it. This may mean changing your organization’s
structure, processes, incentive plans, and performance measurement.