What additional complexities are faced in global supply chai

What additional complexities are faced in global supply chains? How does the Internet help in managing global supply chains?

Solution

Global supply chains typically span greater geographic distances and time differences than domestic supply chains and have participants from a number of different countries. Although the purchase price of many goods might be lower abroad, there are often additional costs for transportation, inventory, and local taxes or fees. Performance standards may vary from region to region or from nation to nation. Supply chain management may need to reflect foreign government regulations and cultural differences. All of these factors impact how a company takes orders, plans distribution, organizes warehousing, and manages inbound and outbound logistics throughout the global markets its services. The Internet helps companies manage many aspects of their global supply chains, including sourcing, transportation, communications, and international finance. As goods are being sourced, produced, and shipped,communication is required among retailers, manufacturers, contractors, agents, and logistics providers. Many, especially smaller companies, still share product information over the phone, via e-mail, or through faxes. These methods slow down the supply chain and also increase errors and uncertainty. With Internet technology, supply chain members can communicate through a Web based system.Firms use intranets to improve coordination among their internal supply chain processes, and they use extranets to coordinate supply chain processes shared with their business partners.Supply chain software provides numerous advantages to organizations, empowering them to improve operations from end-to-end.The Internet makes showing your hand to others possible, but centuries of distrust and lack of coordination within industries make it difficult.