The age of the real-time supply chain has finally arrived. Thanks to an emerging technology construct--the Internet-based "mega-portal"--companies can now connect instantaneously with suppliers, distributors, manufacturers, customers, and alliance partners around the world. Online access to up-to-the-minute information enables companies to improve communication and project management across the entire supply chain, promote collaboration across departments, and enhance customer service and financial operations. The results are stunning; for example, a recent survey reports dramatic increases in revenues and customer retention and decreases in operating costs and product cycle times. Drawing from extensive primary research, this book presents detailed examples of how organizations as diverse as Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Dell, and the U.S. Department of Defense are creating information and communication hubs online and reaping the rewards. The authors explain the basic technical and organizational infrastructure necessary for launching a mega-portal and how its successful management can have profound impact on every area and function of the extended enterprise--from strategy to logistics, product development to customer service. As competition heats up from every direction, the ability to design and manage your supply chain with precision and speed becomes a business imperative. In Real Time offers a practical blueprint for building, implementing, and sustaining supply chains in today's rapidly changing environment.

This book contains a multi-faceted, multi-media set of products to serve as a definitive guide and toolset for executives who must build and operate global supply chain networks in a period of systemic, extreme change.

Supply chain management today has never been more complex, more dynamic or more unpredictable.

The good news is that new techniques for analyzing country-level investments, network configuration and in-sourcing/out-sourcing decisions can enable more precise and effective span of control. The latest generation of network design and optimization applications has created broader opportunities to view and streamline links between supply chain network nodes.

New concepts in multi-channel demand signal capture -- and in pooling and data warehousing customer signals coming into the enterprise from retail stores, websites and call centers -- can bring the enterprise closer to the customer. Emergence of practices such as multi-channel supply management and virtualized cross-enterprise inventory pools are enabling rapid response to changes in demand, creating a level of "cyber-kanban" unimaginable a few years ago. Companies can now truly respond to the pull of the market rather than the push of supply.

Companies are also using advanced Business Intelligence (BI) software to mine the demand signal repository and cull critical insights for action and response. Case in point: Wal-Mart s response to Hurricane Katrina was based on insights gained from mining community consumption trends during previous hurricanes.