Supply Chain Technology I

BLCP 201
Supply Chain Technology
• Role of information
• Information requirements
• Information Technology Capabilities
• Information Technology Challenges
 Role of Information
Role on Information In the Supply Chain
• Knowledge is essential for supply chain success
• Information enable planning, execution and
evaluation of key functions
• Information provides visibility into the supply
chain activities.
• Information allow management to make critical
decisions in their day to day actions.
• Timely flow of information is important to ensure
proper control of the materials and funds flow in
the supply chain.
 Role of Information
Supply Chain Information Flow
Carriers & 3PLs

Production Logistics

Suppliers Customers

Finance Marketing

Governmental &
Financial Institution
 Information Requirements
• Information quality is critical for knowledge
flowing across the supply chain.
• The seven R’s of definition applies to
information just as much as productions
• “Right information to the right partners, in the
right quantity, in the right format, at the right
place, at the right time, and at the right cost”
• To ensure that valuable information across the
supply chain, it must be accessible, relevant,
accurate, timely and transferable.
 Information Requirements
• Accessible
– Information must be available to the management who
needs it regardless of locations or employee.
– Obtaining needed information can be difficult because
the data are often owned by external organization.
• Relevant
– Management must have pertinent information to make
quick decisions to current issues
– The goal is to avoid being overwhelmed by extraneous
data that is not relevant.
• Accurate
– Information must be accurate to avoid errors and costly
decisions e.g., government penalty, dissatisfied customer
 Information Technology Capabilities
• Timely
– Data must be up to date and available in a
reasonable timeframe
– Managers able to synchronize activities, become
leaner and address problems.
• Transferable
– Just as one need a translator to convert words,
managers are able to transfer data for one format
to another to make it understandable
– Information also needs to be transferred quickly to
facilitate accessibility and timeliness
Information Technology Capabilities
Six Drivers of Supply Chain Excellence

Connectivity
Visibility

Supply Collaboration
Chain
Optimization
Excellence
Execution
Speed
Information Technology Capabilities
• Connectivity
– Information technology(IT) is the primary focus of this driver
– Geographically connects facilities with seamless information
through shared electronics means e.g., Internet, Extranet etc.,
• Visibility
– Tools to generate actionable information through data
collection via supply chain activities
– IT equipments allow users to “see” those information through
the supply chain
• Collaboration
– The information available allows management to make
collaboration decisions regarding process standardization and
strategic development
 Information Technology Capabilities
• Optimization
– Software is available to help organization to maximize its
supply chain performance
– Optimizing tools to analyze and improve the supply chain
issues e.g., cost efficient delivery routes
• Execution
– Promotes efficient execution and integration of key activities
to achieve operational excellence
– Helps management to monitor its process effectively through
performance measurement software
• Speed
– Help management to respond timely to customer needs
– Improve and adapt to environment changes to solve
problems and avoid disruptions.
Information Technology Challenges
The implementation of new technologies and
software does not guarantee success.
• Technology cannot make ill-conceived supply
chains productive, prompt adversarial
organizations to collaborate(poor quality data)
• Not knowing the needs and requirements of
the business leads to poor technology
selection and inefficient implementation

……cont..
Information Technology Challenges
• Organization fail to change their supply chain
process with the new Information Technology
tools
• Software solution are inadequate for managing
the entire supply chain process across multiple
organization
• Poor planning and preparation for technology
implementation; timing for change, limited
training etc,.
Information Technology Challenges

Technology Use Barriers

Don't know 1%

The IT Department's lack of understanding

of business issues 9%

None of these 12%

The inability of business to change in order

to take advantage of new capabilities 37%

Business people's inability to understand

what can and can't be done with IT 41%
Information Technology Challenges
Ten golden rules for success compiled by Favilla and Fearne.
1. Secure the commitment of senior management
2. Remember that it is not just an information technology
project
3. Align the project with business goals
4. Understand the software capabilities
5. Select partners carefully
6. Follow a proven implementation methodology
7. Take a step-by-step approach for incremental value gains
8. Be prepared to change business processes
9. Keep and users informed and involved
10.Measure success with key performance indicator (KPI)