Value of IT in supply chain planning

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand value creation of information technology (IT) in supply chain planning (SCP). The impact of different IT components in SCP remains unclear and requires some thorough research. In addition, an analysis of the optimization dimension provides insights into intra-functional, inter-functional and cross-company optimization. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted among German companies using a continuous production flow. In total, 47 of 193 contacted companies completed the web survey, which corresponds to a response rate of 24 percent. Findings – IT functionality for SCP is widely spread. The value of IT functionality in SCP is tremendous. Implementations in demand fulfillment and available-to-promise (ATP) have the biggest value creation potential. Supply chain performance indicators can be improved by investments in certain functional domains. Packaged standard software is widely distributed and should be considered as the first option. IT functionality to improve intra-functional processes is significantly more often implemented than IT functionality for inter-functional or cross-company process optimization although the realized value is comparable. Research limitations/implications – Respondents of the survey are limited to the German continuous production flow industry. Future research could be interesting in the discrete manufacturing industry. Originality/value – The paper provides empirical insights into the value of IT in SCP where data are less available than in the ERP context. Furthermore, this paper provides first insights into the optimization dimension whether processes are optimized intra-functional, inter-functional or cross-company.

A multidisciplinary perspective of big data in management research

“…Big data analytics has proven its value in managing the flow of goods and services. Fuchs and Otto (2015) demonstrate the information technology in supply chain planning has significant values and improvement in supply chain can be obtained by financing the IT function.…”

Product Variety, Supply Chain Complexity and the Needs for Information Technology: A Framework Based on Literature Review

“…One of the important aspects of integration in the supply chain networks is sharing and accessing information (Zhang, Pieter van Donk and van der Vaart, 2011;Vanpoucke, Vereecke and Muylle, 2017). The sharing and accessing aspects in this case mean that the supply chain network must be able to fully cooperate to the valuable information exchange and allow the supply chain network channel to access the information (Fuchs and Otto, 2015). The information exchange includes all types of data that affect collaboration and coordination process between supply chain network partners, such as information related to demand, inventory status, production schedules, purchase orders, shipment schedules, etc.…”

“…The information exchange includes all types of data that affect collaboration and coordination process between supply chain network partners, such as information related to demand, inventory status, production schedules, purchase orders, shipment schedules, etc. Information technology acts as the provider, infrastructure and services enabling overall information to be interchanged more effectively and efficiently among supply chain network channels (Auramo, Kauremaa and Tanskanen, 2005;Zhang, Pieter van Donk and van der Vaart, 2011;Ye and Wang, 2013;Fuchs and Otto, 2015).…”

“…In general, the role of information technology in the supply chain network includes four objectives. The first objective consists of ensuring the availability, visibility, and quality of information (Zhou et al, 2014;Kaliani Sundram, Chandran and Awais Bhatti, 2016); second objective is allowing access from a single point of contact (centralized data) (Auramo, Kauremaa and Tanskanen, 2005); third objective is assisting in decision-making based on the data and information obtained from the supply chain network (Fuchs and Otto, 2015;Vanpoucke, Vereecke and Muylle, 2017) and the fourth objective is assisting the companies in the process of collaborating and coordinating with supply chain network channels (Kaliani Sundram, Chandran and Awais Bhatti, 2016;Vanpoucke, Vereecke and Muylle, 2017).…”

Information Technology Support for Configuration Problem Solving

“…Despite importance of coordination and collaborative planning in supply chains, a majority of companies still restrict their planning activities to the intra-company level (Fuchs and Otto 2015). That is often explained by lack of adequate information and communication technologies to support collaboration and specifically for collaborative decision-making in decentralized supply chains (Hernández et al 2014).…”