The Push For Success Via Supply ChainsThe Push For Success Via Supply Chains

Info Sharing

How often does your company share information with its suppliers?

Information sharing between customers and suppliers varies with each industry. Customers want to know more about what new products are coming, while suppliers want a better understanding of sales forecasts and customer needs. According to the information 500, one in 10 firms makes it an occasional or standard practice to share information with suppliers. In banking and financial services and media and entertainment, the advantages of information sharing outweigh the disadvantages, and approximately one in five companies share information with suppliers.

Application Access

What applications does your company allow suppliers to access?

Order and inventory management are the most common types of information made available to suppliers at information 500 companies. More than a third of these businesses also let supply-chain partners access product-development specifications and production schedules. To ensure that appropriate products and parts are available when necessary, companies in industries--including general retail, specialty retail, distribution, and automotive--share sales forecasts with suppliers. Information pertaining to cost structure and customer sat- isfaction is sensitive, and few companies share it.

Supply-Chain Reporting

How do members of your electronic supply chain query your company's systems for information?

While many firms believe in sharing pertinent information through a supply chain, these firms don't necessarily agree on the method for providing this data. Among this year's information 500, a third support structured reports that their suppliers can access on demand. One in five provides scheduled structured reports. Nearly a fifth allow for on-demand ad hoc reports, which, depending on the frequency and level of detail, can be cumbersome and time-consuming to offer and download.