Trend Watch-Shape of SCM to come-The Hurwitz prediction
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Shane:
Here is an interesting take on the trend that seems to be developing in SCM,I hope i2 is on it,do you know?
Source:The Hurwitz Group
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These articles by Hurwitz Group analysts identify and analyze important trends and issues in Enterprise Resource Planning
The Evolution of the Supply Chain
October 30, 1998 - The concept of the extended supply chain is undergoing a revision due to a number of technological factors, including open interfaces, component technology, and Internet-based e-commerce models. The basic concept of a supply chain -- a system that links manufacturing, distribution, and retail partners from raw material production to end-user sales in a well-functioning and harmonious chain -- is still valid. But the design, implementation, and overall configuration of these supply chains are slated to change.
The notion that a given company participates in a single linear supply chain, loosely integrated to ERP and other front-office software, that is mediated by the hidden forces of the market and facilitated by EDI and other low-level protocols, is disappearing. In the coming years, what will emerge is a multidimensional model of extended supply chains that can best be described as a set of interlocking sales, production, and delivery (SPD) networks, interconnected at the process level, operating in near real-time, and mediated by collaborative software and the Web.
SPD networks will do more than just manage constraints and facilitate production: they will form the backbone of internal corporate front-office and back-office functions and external supply chains. Indeed, SPD networks will become the ultimate locus of control for today's ERP software as well as for products like customer management applications. SPD networks will also meld the concepts of supply chain, workflow, and Internet-based e-commerce into a multifaceted, single functional entity.
THE HURWITZ TAKE: SPD networks won't emerge for several years, but the groundwork is being laid today in newer technologies like e-commerce, ECM, and EMA, as well as ERP and supply chain. The requirements for faster and better production, lower costs, better inventory management, and better customer fulfillment will continue to drive supply chain managers to find new efficiencies in their systems. The result is that while SPD networks will likely evolve over time, thinking and planning for these networks will help make supply chains deeper, broader, and more influential than ever before.
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