Investigations of the electronic data interchange practice: Comparative study of companies operating in the automotive sector in Morocco

Abstract

The evolution of technology and the structural changes in the global economy had led the organizations to recreate their value chain and to allocate more resources to information system. The companies wishing to integrate distribution networks into their logistic system are turning to the EDI (the Electronic Data Interchange) which can extend the management of their physical value chain till the point of consumption of their product. The EDI provides a concordance between the physical flow and the information flow to enable the supply chain management to be effective and fast. This technology allow illustrating the role of Information Technology in the Supply Chain: without information system, the global supply chain cannot be efficient. Furthermore, Morocco is the first automaker in North Africa and the second in the African continent. This country is now recognized as industrial platform for the production and export in the automotive industry. This Morocco's position on the global value chain led us to conduct this study which aims to explore the practice of EDI in the automotive sector and its impact on the supply chain management.