Page 119 - DMGT523_LOGISTICS_AND_SUPPLY_CHAIN_MANAGEMENT

Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Notes 6.7.4 Service Applications
6.7.5 Human Resource Applications
6.7.6 Reporting Applications
6.7.7 Common ERP Systems

6.8 SC Information System Design
6.9 Summary
6.10 Keywords
6.11 Review Questions

6.12 Further Readings

Objectives

After studying this unit, you will be able to:
 Understand the Information Functionality – The Supply Chain
 Explain the Principles of Logistics Information

 Discuss the Logistics Information System Architecture
 Describe the Comprehensive Information System Integration
 Understand the Communication Technology
 Explain the Rationale for ERP implementation
 Discuss the ERP System Design

 Describe the SC Information System Design
Introduction

The information technology wave has created new ways to conduct business in this millennium.
Typewriters have largely been replaced by word processors. Electronic mail has made it easy to
transmit textual messages (possibly containing embedded picture and sound files) worldwide,
using computers, cellular telephones, and specially equipped televisions via telephone, satellite,
and cable television networks. Office automation has made the concept of a “paperless office”
become a reality. Workstations, printers, database systems, and other tools are now linked by
means of a local area network (LAN).

While today’s Web is significantly more compelling than it was just a decade ago, yet in many
ways, we’re still in the “horse and buggy” era of the Internet. In 2004, $184 billion worth of retail
spending was conducted on the Web.
The next-generation Internet will provide small businesses and large corporations alike the
kind of agility necessary to compete and succeed in the digital economy. Today, it could take a
company several weeks to find the right supplier for a particular component, hammer out a
contract, and set up the complex business processes to ensure that it arrives when and where it
is needed. Advanced Internet software is on the horizon that will accomplish all of this in a day,
if not a matter of minutes. If you think today’s Web is transforming the way business is done,
imagine the kind of impact tomorrow’s Web will have.
One will be able to collaborate and communicate seamlessly, no matter where one is or what
device one is using. It will be possible to interact with computers in more natural ways, using

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