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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT (Source: Designing and Managing the Supply Chain by David Simchi-Levi, Philip Kaminsky, Edith Simchi-Levi; Chapter-11; 2nd Edition) GOALS OF SUPPLY CHAIN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Collect Information Access to data Analyze based on supply chain data Collaborate with supply chain partners Note: The four goals do not all have to be achieved at the same time. New Generation of Information Systems Current Information Systems Sales representative Accountant Demand planner Sales representative Sales/mktng systems Financial systems Demand planner Accountant Single point of contact Operations Customer service Operations Logistics/manfg systems Service representative Service representative MEANS FOR ACHIEVING THESE GOALS: Collaborate Analyze Access Collect Integration/Standards Supply Chain Components Electronic Commerce Infrastructure STANDARDIZATION: IT standards are necessary to drive down the costs (of system development and maintenance) and make implementation feasible. Proprietary Standalone Communications Collaboration [role has changed from enterprise organization (ERP) to collaborative commerce (ERP-II)] INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE: Interface/presentation devices Communications (for applications, such as, e-mail, data exchange, groupware, transport product tracking using GPS, supply chain event management for tracking predefined performance measures and sounding alerts, exchange platforms) Databases Legacy databases Relational databases Object databases Data warehouses Datamarts Groupware databases System architecture From Legacy System Architecture to Client “/”Server Architecture Middleware NOTE: Middleware comprise tools that facilitate communication between system architectures, communication protocols, hardware architecture and so forth (e.g., customer service rep searching multiple locations for a customer’s bills it the customer has purchased more than one service) ELECTRONIC COMMERCE: An emerging I