TITLE

Analyzing Impact of Information Technology on Supply Chain Management

and Manufacturing Strategy.

INTRODUCTION:
Supply chain is considered as one of the most important aspect of business in any organization,
as optimum management in supply chain leads to successful business operations. Therefore, it is
pivotal for organizations to constantly enhance processes and techniques of supply chain which
involves control, measurements, trouble shooting, adaptability and innovation of new solutions.

Information is said to be the glue that holds supply chains together. As a key infrastructure,
Web-based technologies continue to have significant impact on supply chain strategies. On the
coordination side, the Web provides a virtually free platform for enhancing transparency,
eliminating information delays and distortions, and significantly reducing transaction costs.
One should note, however, that, although information flow has accelerated considerably,
material flow has not gained much speed. This phenomenon makes the coordination of
material, information, and cash flows even more crucial for effective supply chain
coordination. On the design side, current technology does not yet permit dynamic supply chain
design in response to changing business environment. The adoption of Web Services
represents a significant step in that direction.

Companies attempt to companies are attempting to find ways to improve their flexibility and
responsiveness and in turn competitiveness by changing their operations strategy, methods and
technologies that include the implementation of supply chain management (SCM) paradigm.
Hence, information technology (IT) can enhance the agility of SCM. The aspects, however,
which IT impact on SCM are not equal.

For many in supply chain management, new technological tools are transforming daily business
processes. As the supply chain becomes increasingly Lean in its operations, managers are
constantly looking for ways to improve service, reduce costs, and increase return on their
investments. Effective supply chains are defined by the efficiency of their processes, as well as
their flexibility and reliability, and new technologies are proving valuable in achieving these
goals.

Large deployments of mobile and wireless technology have already been implemented in the
logistics and transportation sectors, and with good reason. The need for real time tracking and
accurate delivery systems makes supply chain management ripe for technological innovation.
However, keeping up with emerging technologies can be difficult for large companies who have
deep investments in older technology. Although transitions may take time, leveraging new
technologies is becoming of key importance in this competitive industry.

The following are a few of the ways in which technology is transforming supply chain
management:

1. Greater Efficiency and Transparency

2. Focus on Individual Employees

3. Tighter Communication and Community

4. Making Way for Small but Nimble Carriers

5. Government Mandates Encourage New Technology

A manufacturing business is devoted to the production of tangible objects that are high in quality
and competitive in cost, meet customers' expectations for performance, and are delivered in a
timely manner. Finding and achieving the appropriate balance among these attributes—quality,
cost, performance, and time to market—challenge all manufacturing businesses. Those
companies that are successful in meeting that challenge remain in business; those that are not
usually disappear.

In a manufacturing environment that is perhaps changing more rapidly now than during the
Industrial Revolution, competing successfully will require that U.S. manufacturers increasingly
provide customers with shorter times between order and delivery and between product
conceptualization and realization, greater product customization, and higher product quality and
performance, while meeting more stringent environmental constraints. Accomplishing these
goals will require major changes in current manufacturing practices; such changes include the
use of new and/or more complex manufacturing processes, greater use of information to reduce
waste and defects, and more flexible manufacturing styles.

OBJECTIVES:

The aim of this dissertation is to study and analyze positive and negative
impact of information technology which is applied and using on supply chain
management in most of the leading companies of various industries and also
on manufacturing strategy using by these companies.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITION: