OVERVIEW

To transition a business into the higher levels of the supply chain evolution, and into the realm of advanced supply chain management (ASCM), firms must accept two necessities as they overcome the typical barriers created between levels 2 and 3 of the maturity model. First, there is the general unwillingness to share valuable information outside of the four walls representing the internal organization. This unwillingness is first seen in level 1 companies, between departments and business units, and becomes one of the first barriers to overcome. Most companies welcome useful insights from external constituents, but stalwartly resist sharing information they believe gives them an edge in an industry or market. The solution here is to establish what can or cannot be shared through collaborative efforts early in the discussion and then to demonstrate the value of the sharing in terms of increased, documented benefits for both parties. Typically, some form of pilot operation or sharing effort is necessary with a particular business unit and selected external allies, to establish those parameters.

Second, there is the need to link many legacy systems and disparate software together in a manner that facilitates rapid exchange of the knowledge considered pertinent to the extended enterprise processing. That means the parties to the collaboration effort must decide exactly how to connect the constituents into a meaningful communication network without being stopped by difficulties with the age or type of database system holding the needed information. In this case, the secret is to establish a...