Information Technologies Support Future Logistics Operations Case Study
Supply chain management has become one of the main factors when it comes to the competitiveness of an organization. In the competitive environment of the 21st century, there is a high competition between the businesses so that they had to realize that the competitive advantage in no longer solely based on the capabilities of the organization itself, rather than on a tightly integrated supply chain (Sohalr, 2012, p. 1532).
Moreover, the highly dynamic and rapidly changing business environment in combina-tion with the fact that more and more organizations are competing on a global basis, the customer need for decreased delivery times, as well as completeness and accuracy of delivery, force the organizations to not only focus on their internal …show more content…
Hence, the aim of this paper is discuss various information technology trends which support future logistics operations in order to gain a competitive advantage.
2. Using IT for Global Supply Chains
In this part of the paper I will clearly outline various information technologies which support future logistics operations. According to Hammant these technologies can be grouped into four different categories namely integration and flexibility, electronic data interchange, hardware, and communications technology (1997, p. 32).
2.1. Flexibility and Integration of Software
The first category has a look on the various trends in terms of supply chain software. One powerful enabler for the reduction of costs and improved productivity/customer services is a successful integration of information within an organization. For instance, such systems provide the management with all necessary information in order to monitor the inventory, although it is split up upon different locations in terms of countries and warehouses. With the link of these systems to the relevant decision authorities it is pos-sible to manage the supply chain in a more dynamic way (Prajogo & Olhager, 2008, pp. 514–515; Swafford, Ghosh, & Murthy, 2003, p. …show more content…
The main benefits include reduction of costs, increased efficiency in terms of time and resources and a decreased lead time. However, there is the risk that such an investment into information technology would not result in a competitive advantage. This is due to the fact that the competitors will also be invest-ing into new technology in order to maintain or improve their current level of effective-ness and efficiency. Nevertheless, such investments into information technology help to develop and improve the supply chain in order to gain a competitive advantage in the long
Moreover, the highly dynamic and rapidly changing business environment in combina-tion with the fact that more and more organizations are competing on a global basis, the customer need for decreased delivery times, as well as completeness and accuracy of delivery, force the organizations to not only focus on their internal …show more content…
Hence, the aim of this paper is discuss various information technology trends which support future logistics operations in order to gain a competitive advantage.
2. Using IT for Global Supply Chains
In this part of the paper I will clearly outline various information technologies which support future logistics operations. According to Hammant these technologies can be grouped into four different categories namely integration and flexibility, electronic data interchange, hardware, and communications technology (1997, p. 32).
2.1. Flexibility and Integration of Software
The first category has a look on the various trends in terms of supply chain software. One powerful enabler for the reduction of costs and improved productivity/customer services is a successful integration of information within an organization. For instance, such systems provide the management with all necessary information in order to monitor the inventory, although it is split up upon different locations in terms of countries and warehouses. With the link of these systems to the relevant decision authorities it is pos-sible to manage the supply chain in a more dynamic way (Prajogo & Olhager, 2008, pp. 514–515; Swafford, Ghosh, & Murthy, 2003, p. …show more content…
The main benefits include reduction of costs, increased efficiency in terms of time and resources and a decreased lead time. However, there is the risk that such an investment into information technology would not result in a competitive advantage. This is due to the fact that the competitors will also be invest-ing into new technology in order to maintain or improve their current level of effective-ness and efficiency. Nevertheless, such investments into information technology help to develop and improve the supply chain in order to gain a competitive advantage in the long