TABLE OF CONTENTS 
Part I of this book has discussed POM processes. The maturity of POM processes has followed the maturity of communication technology, and any POM component that requires visibility has been positively impacted as technology provided better methods of communication. Telephones provided instant conversation and were a major improvement over postal communication. Yet a shortcoming of telephone communication was the lack of an ability to archive conversations for history tracking. Facsimile provided an improvement over postal communication and the telephone because it allowed quick delivery of information and a record of the communication. Electronic commerce (e-commerce) mechanisms such as EDI, electronic mail (e-mail), and the Internet provided significant improvements over paper-only and audio-based-only communication.
As communication mechanisms have improved, POM processes have adapted these technologies to improve existing processes. Although POM processes can be executed without technology, technology has significantly speeded up POM processes and reduced the errors that are associated with manual tasks. Technology has also provided insight into processes and trading partners to an extent that firms can now use technology to perform tactical tasks and to develop their sourcing strategies. By using data mining on the vast amount of POM data, companies can also drive...
