MANAGING INFORMATION FLOWS ch6

MANAGING INFORMATION FLOWS ch6

1. Appreciate the overall importance of information to supply chain management.

   • The changing nature of supply chains underlies the need for information and the investment in technology. As supply chains become more global, complex, and demand driven, information technologies must evolve.

2. Role of information technology in the supply chain.

   • To ensure that valuable, actionable knowledge "readily flows across the supply chain, information must be accessible, relevant, accurate, timely, and transferable.
     • Accessible: Information must be available to supply chain managers who have a legitimate need for it, regardless of their location or employer.
     • Relevant: Supply chain managers must have pertinent information to make dedsions
     • Accurate: The information must be correct and depict reality; otherwise, it will be difficult to make appropriate decisions.
     • Timely: The information must be up to date and available in a reasonable tirneframe. As a chain managers attempt to synchronize activities,
     • Transferable: The final characteristic of information has multiple meanings. Just as we need translators to convert words from one language to another

3. Differentiate between the primary types of supply chain solutions and their capabilities.

   • To state that all SCIS are not created equal may be the greatest understatement of fact in this textbook. While leveraging technology for more adaptive capabilities is widely desired goal, the process of transforming the organization and its SCIS is a complex, multilayered effort.

4. Critical issues in technology selection and implementation processes.

   • This vision must clearly explain how technology upgrades will facilitate the oqlanizaction's overall supply chain strategy and improved performance.

5. Role of emerging technologies for improving supply chain information management.

   • The preceding section indicates, a wide array of software tools support supply chain '.pl:anrring, execution, and control. Companies spend billions of dollars on these tech- ;no,Jog;ies with the goal of malting their supply chains more productive and effective.
   • Supply chain software falls into four general categories: planning tools for forecast- ing and related activities, execution systems for management of day-to-day pro-cesses, event management tools to monitor supply chain flows, and business applications that help organizations analyze performance.