Supply Chain Management
Relationships with suppliers have dramatically changed with advances in IT. Consider
procurement. In the past, customers sought strategic relationships
with preferred suppliers, enabled by fixed network connections for EDI
(electronic document interchange) purchasing, invoicing, and payment. With the Internet
and ASPs, connections are virtual, allowing customers to bid for nearly every purchase. Thus, business
to business relationships are changing rapidly!
Your group should focus on a few case studies of a company's changing relationships with suppliers.
(The automotive industry is
particularly interesting to follow; you might also look at Dell or Cisco who believe IT has enabled
no inventory, as opposed to the previous goal of just-in-time inventory.) Include a description of:
- Size of company in terms of sales and profits
- Major products the company sells
- General characteristics of their suppliers
- Organizational chart--who does the CIO report to?
- Changes in business to supplier relationships over past decade enabled by IT
- How has IT affected inventory levels and inventory costs?
- How has IT affected entire cycle times?
- How has IT changed the balance of power between the suppliers and the company?
- Lessons learned by the company
Finally, your group should find and generate a list of best practices for managing IT-enabled supply chains.