Electronic supply chains

This article is the first in a series of six dedicated to the subject of electronic supply chains. The next three will present in detail the three models of such chains mentioned above – the model with a virtual warehouse and a physical warehouse, the model with a virtual warehouse and a direct delivery strategy, and the mixed model with a virtual warehouse, a physical warehouse, and a direct delivery strategy. The fifth article will present a method for selecting an electronic supply chain model that will bring the manufacturer the greatest possible profit under the conditions of a given logistics system, while the sixth article will present an example scenario for applying this method.

One of the areas of management where electronic business technologies, which are a derivative of the rapid development of information and communication technologies, can bring particular benefits is supply chain management.

In short, the essence of electronic business consists of:
– replacing, wherever possible, tangible products and services provided directly by the service provider with digital products transmitted over a telecommunications network and digital services provided remotely over the network
– introducing new digital products and services into management that do not have their material and direct counterparts, as the latter did not meet cost and time conditions, did not have the required geographical reach, nor did they offer the possibility of automatic reaction.

Digital products and services are characterized by lower costs, shorter lead times, unlimited availability in time, independence from geographical distances, high information capacity, and the possibility of automatic adaptation and reaction compared to their material counterparts, if the latter exist. Due to such an accumulation of new features, the introduction of digital products and services into supply chain management should not be limited to the computerization of existing business processes, but should lead to the restructuring of entire chains – the elimination of some business processes and the introduction of others – and the optimization of chain functioning under new assumptions. We then speak of electronic supply chains.