Use of Internet in supply chain management: a study of Indian companies
| Published date | 01 January 2004 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02635570410514070 |
| Pages | 31-41 |
| Date | 01 January 2004 |
| Author | Zillur Rahman |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
Use of Internet in supply
chain management:
a study of Indian
companies
Zillur Rahman
Introduction
Dramatic economic and strategic changes
brought about by recent advances in
technology, including the Internet and the
World Wide Web (WWW) has expanded the
scope of business. Nowhere have these changes
been more evident than in supply chain
functions (procurement, inventory control,
logistics) (Soloner and Spence, 2002). In the
last decade, supply chain management has
moved from a low profile, ancillary concern to a
recognized strategic component with tangible,
positive impact on the firm's bottom line. Time
was when companies looked at their supply
chains ± the upstream part of the value chain
from the company's perspective ± as a means of
focusing on their own core competencies, of
leveraging those of vendors, of lowering their
costs, and of becoming more responsive to
customers. With the advent of the Internet and
WWW, the goals would be superseded by a
single super objective: competing on the basis of
how well managed your supply chain is
(Lancioni, 2000).
Several parallel forces re-shaping the world of
global business are contributing to this shift of
the supply chain from a position where it was
critical to cost and quality to one where it is
becoming one of the most powerful ways for
companies to offer greater, and differentiated,
value to customers (Boyer, 2001).
Manufacturing is giving way to assembling on
shop floors since companies no longer find it
either economical or quality smart to be
vertically integrated. For example, the
Mumbai-based BlowPlast used to buy lock
components and give them to an assembler.
It would then test them before passing them on
to its manufacturing line. Today, it procures
entire lock assemblies tested and certified for
quality by its vendor. This was the result of an
analysis of transaction-cost vis-aÁ-vis material
costs, which revealed the inefficiencies in the
system.
Indeed, every component and raw material
and, in some cases, even the design that goes
into a product needs increasingly specialized
manufacturing expertise. Larsen & Toubro,
for instance, outsources its CAD/CAM
designs for gas turbines for power stations
instead of doing it itself. Hero Motors shops for
The author
Zillur Rahman is an Assistant Professor in the Department
of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology,
Roorkee, India.
Keywords
Internet, Supply chain management, India
Abstract
The advent of the Internet and electronic communication has
enabled companies to be more responsive to their
customers. However, the uses of the same technological
advancements in business-to-business supply chain
management are changing the marketplace itself. Successful
supply chain management requires a change from managing
individual functions to integrating activities into the key
supply chain process. The advantages are far more than the
efforts involved in accessing the final product, a seamless
chain that operates fluidly and benefits the entire value
chain by speeding up communication between customers
and their suppliers, improving service quality, and reducing
costs. In this article, the author discusses how the Internet is
being used in the management of various areas of supply
chain by Indian companies.
Electronic access
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31
Industrial Management & Data Systems
Volume 104 .Number 1 .2004 .pp. 31-41
#Emerald Group Publishing Limited .ISSN 0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/02635570410514070
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