Introduction to global standards for enterprise collaboration
Operational management of supply chains in an international dimension plays a fundamental role and is often of critical importance for success in a rapidly changing and competitive global market. To provide a competitively priced product, maintain low inventory levels, and ensure timely and complete deliveries, enterprises should be able to use ICT (Information and Communication Technology) tools that integrate global supply networks. To achieve the capability for international collaboration, business partners must formulate agreements and commitments for interactive cooperation. Common business processes should, therefore, use common standards and a single (or uniform) reference base.
A supply chain is a dynamically established path for the flow of goods, information, and financial resources within a potential supply network (Fig. 1). The selection of partners is most often dictated by business considerations: profit from the transaction, quality of the product or delivery execution, level of service, technical conditions of cooperation, or level of technology, etc. The selected connection (based on an accepted order or signed contract) links a clearly defined supplier and recipient (their business profiles) according to the business transaction occurring between them, the subject of which is a specific material, component, final product, or service.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 5/2004.