8/13/2019 E-SCM assgn #1

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Elbert Hicks

New concepts of what constitutes customer value, requirements for more agile, flexibleproduct designs and manufacturing processes, the growth of virtual companies and

collaborative processes, and the continuous fragmenting of marketplaces demandingcustomized products and services to satisfy a marketplace of one have rendered obsolete pastorganizational models and partnerships with trading partners. Also, the ubiquitous presence ofthe computer, the ultimate enabler promising the real-time synchronization of information withanyone, anytime, anywhere, has reshaped the very nature of business and altered fundamentalthinking about the way companies market, sell, buy, and communicate with their customers andsuppliers. The best enterprises understand that to thrive in todays marketplace, it is imperativethat they continuously activate the synergies that occur when they bypass the limitations oftraditional internally focused business models, leverage capital and human capabilitieswherever they can be found in the supply chain, and merge channel trading partner centers ofexpertise to establish virtual, scalable organizations capable of responding decisively to anymarketplace challenge.

Supply chain manage provides todays enterprise with the strategic vision, as well as theoperational principles, necessary to integrate once isolated companies into unified supply chainvalue-generating networks. The merger of supply chain management with the enabling power ofthe internet has propelled supply chain management to a new level by linking the concept withpowerful networking tools, enabling the real-time integration and synchronization of channelwide processes and databases and the tight linking of trading partners.

E-SCM enables the real-time connectivity of all trading partners and provides for theinstantaneous visibility of events and decision-making across the global supply chain. Enablingthe full potential of e-SCM requires that companies, first of all, understand the function ofinternet driven information in the supply chain. Secondly, e-SCM provides companies with theability to leverage digital technology to structure close, collaborative partnerships with theirsupply chain partners. Finally, it enables whole supply chains to synchronize information arising

from all network nodes to achieve a seamless supply response to the customer.Previously, enterprises had focused their energies on organizing and optimizing the

functions to be found within the organization. Supply chain management provided enterpriseswith a management method to work with their supply chain partners who existed outside of thebusiness. Supply chain management enables whole supply networks to respond by providingthe management strategies necessary to transform individual companies from isolated,internally focused producers of goods and services to active participants in value chains,capable of providing uniquely configured solutions through agile, scalable productive functionscapable of evolving as the needs of the marketplace change.

The capabilities of supply chain management were radically transformed, whencombined with internet technology. It has enabled companies to engineer agile organizationsthat are capable of utilizing the competencies and resources of supply partners everywhere, at

any time, through the establishment of web-based systems that provide for the real-timeconnectivity and instantaneous visibility of events and decision making across the globalnetwork.