E-SCM - Intelligent Collaborative Decision Support System

The Internet has changed the way companies do business and has created new opportunities in many fields. Companies which wanted to attain higher profit rates eliminating expensive intermediates, realized that they have to adapt their supply chain to the Internet and to connect through Web technologies with their business partners to create supply chain networks. The convergence of SCM (Supply Chain Management) and the Internet tools resulted in a Web based application called e-SCM. E-SCM model encompasses business concepts and technological tools that join and activate supply chain competencies and resources into a virtual organization to satisfy customer demand in real time. Web technologies provide access to interoperable business components residing on network servers, allowing cross-company teams to interconnect data and information. E-SCM applications help companies to win competitive advantage because they create more value for the customer and have the goal to satisfy the client requirements better, in real time. The article analyzes the concepts and technologies related with e-SCM model: SCM, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), Extranets, portals, Web-based applications, EAI (Enterprise Application Integration), Web technologies and standards. The last section of the article presents an e-SCM model and the architecture which should be employed for the design and implementation of an effective e-SCM application