Supply chain integration barriers

Barriers to Using the Internet in Supply Chain Integration... 

The major barrier to increased supply chain integration is the mind set of the managers of the different firms involved. With or without an Internet, most managers view their firm as being an independent system. They do not have a systematic view of the supply chain. Given this attitude, it is difficult for a firm to develop the openness necessary to share information freely over an extranet. 

Barriers to supply chain integration Consequences Methods of eliminating barriers ... 

This chapter describes an approach to overcoming the barriers inherent when several organizations are joined together. The solution was a partnership between the new company and a third-party provider to whom Thames Water turned to solve supply chain integration problems. 

Frohlich, M. T (2002). E-integration in the supply chain Barriers and performance. Decision Sciences, 33(4), 537-555. 

Barcodes and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) are also examples of ways to improve communications among companies. A barrier has been the lack of integrated software both inside and outside the company. Efforts underway sponsored by organizations like the Supply-Chain Council seek to standardize definition of data elements and processes. This facilitates supply chain information sharing along the supply chain. 

Table 2.1 Main barriers to the integration of the supply chain, their consequences and methods of elimination...

A second barrier to integrating the Internet into a company is the need for services in addition to products. This is an opportunity as well as a challenge. Firms will have the opportunity to sell services as well as a product to customers on the Net. The challenge is that many of the services will not be provided by the firm selling the product. Instead, the service may be outsourced to a partner. For example, one service provided by the Home Depot chain of building supply stores is that contractors can be given account numbers. The contractor can use that account number to log onto Home Depot s Website. The Website will provide services such as material estimates and work schedules for jobs. It will also allow the contractor to schedule deliveries. 

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