The Internet Paradox

from Supply & Demand Chain Executive

Ron Messer
Opportunities for airports in the wild wired world

The Internet

The Internet and e-commerce present unique opportunities for both producers and consumers of goods and services because of the way in which information is managed. This information relates to the products and services companies sell and the needs/wants of customers. It does this by giving producers information about who is buying what and providing consumers with detailed information about planned purchases, including the best price available. In this way, the Internet overcomes significant information asymmetries for both groups.

What remains fundamentally unchanged in the new business model, however, is the requirement that goods and services be transferred from the person that makes something to the person who buys that something. This essay explores some of the possibilities that the Internet offers to supply chain management, specifically in terms of airports.

from Rutgers Newark Online
RBS Hosts Supply Chain Management Case Competition on Oct. 27

October 16, 2006
WHAT: Supply Chain Management Case Competition at Rutgers Business School

WHO: Rutgers Business School�s Center for Supply Chain Management will host a case competition for schools with distinguished programs in the rapidly growing field of supply chain management. Student teams from:

Lehigh University

P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science

New Jersey Institute of Technology, College of Engineering

New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business

Penn State University, Smeal College of Business

Rutgers University, School of Engineering, and

Rutgers Business School

will compete before a panel of faculty and industry executives from companies such as AmerisourceBergen, AstraZeneca, Becton Dickinson, Johnson & Johnson,Park B. Smith Ltd., and PSEG.

WHEN : Friday, October 27, 2006, 1 � 5 pm

WHERE: Janice H. Levin Building, Rutgers-Livingston campus, Piscataway, NJ.

Supply Chain Professionals Announce New Humanitarian Aid Network

from prnewswire.com
Organization to Tap Logistics and Transportation Resources from 8,000 Companies to Speed Relief Aid in Future Disasters

SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire/ — Logistics and supply chain executives meeting today announced the formation of the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN), a new network to assist relief agencies in providing humanitarian aid, including goods and services, in the preparation for and response to a disaster. Responding to last year’s hurricanes in the gulf and tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the group announced its mission at the annual conference of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) held in San Antonio.

i2 to Develop Supply Chain Analytics Solution for Advanced Business Intelligence Capabilities

from businesswire.com

New-Generation Approach Leverages i2’s Rich Heritage of Successfully Delivering Supply Chain Analytics Solutions

DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–i2 Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITWO) today announced it has furthered its strategic alliance with Microsoft Corp. to jointly develop i2 Intelligence, a supply chain analytics solution, on the Microsoft technology platform.

As a part of this alliance, i2 and Microsoft will jointly develop i2’s world-class, supply chain management solutions on the Microsoft.NET Framework, integrating with the Microsoft Office System and a number of other key Microsoft technologies, including 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft® Windows Server® 2003, Microsoft® SQL Server™and Microsoft® Office SharePoint Server. The i2 Intelligence solution will utilize the Microsoft Office suite as the primary user interface.

The collaboration brings together Microsoft^® Office PerformancePoint Server 2007, the Microsoft business intelligence (BI) technology and i2 new-generation supply chain management solutions to create an actionable BI and analytics solution that will provide businesses with the ability to better understand the impact of supply chain management decisions.

Procuri Survey: Improving Spend Visibility and Compliance, as Supply Risk Intensifies, Top Supply Management Initiatives for 2007

from businesswire.com

ATLANTA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A new survey finds that managing compliance and exposure to risk are rising in importance for supply management executives, even while reducing supply costs remains the perennial top priority.

Based on the response of nearly 300 supply management executives surveyed at Procuri Empower 2006, one of the industry’s leading forums for best-practices exchange and networking, the study also reveals that securing executive support for supply and contract management initiatives is among their top challenges.

Supply Execs Focus on Spend Visibility and Compliance

As supply chains become increasingly global – and influential to overall operational success — Empower attendees cite “improving visibility into timely and accurate spend data” and “adopting technologies and policy changes to ensure compliance” as the top strategies they plan to implement within the next two years.

Field Report: ProcureCon 2006

from ARC Advisory Group

Clint Reiser - October 16, 2006
World Business Research (WBR) hosted ProcureCon 2006 on October 9 – 12 in Scottsdale, Arizona. The main conference was preceded by the 2nd Annual SRM (Supplier Relation Management) Summit. In combination, the events offered a number of insightful presentations and interesting round-table discussions. The topics ranged from supplier development to global sourcing, the development of procurement and sourcing as a strategic function, procurement transformation in the organization, and best practices relating to processes and systems in sourcing. This field report highlights a few of the presentations and topics found to be of notable interest to this attendee.

GSA to create commodity buying vehicle for wireless devices, services

from Washington Technology

By Roseanne Gerin
Staff Writer

GSA to create commodity buying vehicle for wireless devices, services
The General Services Administration wants agencies to save at least 30 percent to 42 percent on the federal government’s wireless bills with a new contract for managed wireless services to be awarded in January.

The procurement is part of the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative, a mandate by the Office of Management and Budget to use common procurement vehicles for certain commodity products such as copiers, domestic delivery services, IT hardware and office supplies. These contracts will let agencies cut costs when buying through managed services providers and more efficiently control their inventories.

GSA officials could not put a value on the wireless devices and services contract, because they don’t know what the volume and prices would be if participating agencies buy under it. Neither market analysts nor government officials know how much money the government spends on wireless devices and services annually. 

Up to $1.4+ B for 5-Yr. Administrative & Clerical Services Contracts

from Defense Industry Daily

Posted 17-Oct-2006 06:48

The Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk, Contracting Department’s Philadelphia, PA Office has awarded 9 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contracts for administrative and clerical services, in a pilot effort on behalf of the DoD-wide Strategic Sourcing Program.

The contract awards encompass one two-year base period plus a single 3-year option period, and have total award values of over $400 million in the base period and over $1.4 billion if all option periods are exercised.

Global Crossing Inks Procurement Services Deal with ICG Commerce

from Supply & Demand Chain Executive

By Editorial Staff
Initiative aims to drive savings throughout North America, Latin America and Europe, targets multiple indirect categories

Philadelphia — October 17, 2006 — Telecommunications company Global Crossing has inked a deal with ICG Commerce for procurement services as part of an initiative to drive savings throughout North America, Latin America and Europe by targeting multiple indirect spend categories.

Global Crossing has been working to achieve key milestones in its business transformation through careful financial management, including a company-wide focus on achieving sustainable cost reductions and process improvements. The company recognized the opportunity to improve financial performance by expanding its procurement efforts and capabilities.