KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER IS EXTENDED ACROSS COMPLEX BUSINESS NETWORKS

A central theme that has begun to pervade the supply chain agenda, virtually
on a global basis and across nearly all industries and business environments,
is that ASCM efforts eventually result in a demand-driven supply network and

finally in what we term the intelligent value network. With that progression
comes some very specific needs. To satisfy the inputs from a demand-driven
business system, the linked enterprise businesses must have the ability within
their network to accept reliable demand information, from a variety of sources,
and share it quickly and accurately. Further, the resulting actions and work
flows created by analysis and response to that knowledge must be synchronized
and visible, so the parties involved have a common view of what is taking place.
The result is an accurate and effective linking of the supply responses to the
actual customer or consumer demands, without the necessity for excessive
safety stocks and inventories.
As we develop our position on how the best ASCM efforts work diligently
to create the best response system and thereby better satisfy customers and
consumers, we will describe how the processing can be developed to meet these
requirements. We must emphasize before that discussion, however, the need for
timely and accurate knowledge transfer across what is becoming a very complex
business environment. John Fontanella and others from AMR Research framed
the situation well, when they stated: �Regardless of whether demand signals are
forecasts, actual consumption data, or the result of collaborative planning between
supplier and customer, mobilizing the supply chain to respond quickly
and efficiently is the major challenge that companies face over the next five
years� (Fontanella et al., 2004, p. 1).
One central purpose of any advanced supply chain effort is to create the kind
of connectivity across the extended enterprise that results in end-to-end visibility
into what is happening. Another is to establish a system that uses the latest
technology to transfer data and ultimately valuable knowledge from the processing,
so the network can mobilize and respond better than any competing system
to the actual needs of the marketplace and key customers. A third is to be in
a position of either introducing or always being near the front of the inevitable
product or service designs and innovations that will enter the market. Satisfying
these purposes occurs when the firm and its business allies meet the opportunity
by linking together five topics of importance: ASCM, customer relationship
management, supplier relationship management, appropriate technology applications,
and customer intelligence, all factors that can be positively affected by
BPM. The last topic is our terminology for the acquisition, management, and
integration of customer knowledge in order to create a differentiating customer
value proposition. As we move forward with our considerations, we will elaborate
on the role of each factor.
To begin, if a firm looks holistically at the five, usually disparate, factors
mentioned and determines how a leading position can be gained through supply
chain excellence, it can develop integrated strategies and solutions for delivering
products and services to key customers better than any competitors. When
the effort is extended through BPM techniques, to include willing and trusted
business allies, working across an extended enterprise for the same purposes,
the advantages are unmatched. In theory at least, the collaboration that will
occur across such a holistic effort will move the linked business network toward
conditions of total enterprise optimization. In such an environment, the involved
firms will be making the greatest use of assets, will be at or near lowest cost
position, and will be generating the most new revenues by virtue of greater
overall satisfaction to the intended customer or consumer groups at the end of
the intelligent value network. In other words, they will have created a competitive
advantage.
Any discussion on the possibilities of achieving such advanced supply chain
management conditions and something like total enterprise optimization must
begin with an understanding of just how complex an extended enterprise has
become and why there is such a strong need for cross-organizational communication.
The original supply chain efforts were directed toward achieving
optimum operating conditions across a linear set of tightly linked, internal
process steps � from beginning raw materials to final delivery of products and
services