Article at a glance:

Getting smart about supply chain management

Although business-to-business (B2B) e-marketplaces can help companies realize certain purchasing and transaction-processing benefits in the short term, broader improvements—particularly reductions in inventory, improved service levels, and faster time to market—are proving more elusive. What will it take to succeed? Seamless integration of data flows and work processes across entire enterprises and even industries holds the key. The power of B2B exchanges would have to be combined with the enterprise-resource-planning and decision-support systems that many companies have adopted in recent years.

The take-away

Successful B2B exchanges will be those with the ability to become information hubs for distinct segments of the supply chain and to instantaneously share data and insights gathered from each corporate participant.