Supply chain viewpoints information systems viewpoint

In the functional organization, strong department heads sponsor change projects. Cross-talk in pursuit of interdepartmental process improvement is minimal. Information systems also center on the needs of the departments. Projects may or may not improve the supply chain as a whole. In fact, a local optimum can be injurious to the whole, yet department heads take credit for their savings. Where the functional viewpoint prevails, the actual impact of improvement projects on the total supply chain is not measured. 

Some view supply chain design as integral to their strategies for competing. For them, competing successfully centers not only on products, but also on the operations that make up the extended product as described in Chapter 1. These operations deliver the physical and extended products to customers hands. With this viewpoint, supplier relations, logistics, and information systems support customer satisfaction and fall within the definition of SCM. This, in turn, leads to increased market share and profit. Costs, while important, are secondary with this viewpoint. Efforts to reduce cost must also support strategy. 

Information barriers abound both within any one company and along the supply chain. There are a variety of causes ranging from incompatible systems to no systems at all. We addressed systems and information management from a more technical viewpoint in Chapters 21 through 23. The lack of... 

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