Physical and Internal Information Flow

A business process model is used to represent the physical and information flows and their processing in supply chains. It is assumed that the physical data flow and supply chain units mainly dealing with processing of physical products are represented as a single entity while supply chain units mainly dealing with information processing are represented as independent units. Therefore, the physical supply chain units are represented in the business process as lanes in a single pool (Fig. 12.2), and the electronic supply chain units are represented as separate pools (see Sect. 12.4.2). 

An integrated physical and information flow model is created in order to capture interrelationship among the physical and electronic supply chain units. 

The electronic supply chain units are represented each in a separate pool named as a service unit with a specific type. These pools represent abstract service providers. The actual service providers can provide several of the services required, some of them act as service aggregators and some services can be provided by the physical supply chain units. The interrelationships are shown as message flows among the pools. The message flow shows only purely electronic information processing activities. For instance, a shipment activity includes shipment data processing, shipment confirmation and other operations but these information processing activities are perceived as an essential part of physical activities and are included in the Deliver product task. 

The model defines main types of the electronic service units present in the e-retailing supply chains in the global setting. These types include  

In the given process model, it is assumed that the e-retailer manages both the physical and electronic sales process by itself. Another possibility is that a traditional retailer deals only with the physical sales while the electronic part is provided by a sales service provider. 

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