|
PMAC Pulse: Supply Chain Symposium draws global expertise
The second Modern Supply Chain Management Symposium, Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in Toronto was an outstanding success according to PMAC symposium organizer Doreen DuGray, PMACs Programs Manager for national programs. We have over 90 registrants here from the global supply chain management field, DuGray said from the Symposium, including speakers and attendees from across Canada, the U.S., China, Australia and New Zealand. Thats a significant increase over about 60 participants at the first Symposium last year.
The Symposium is a collaborative effort, jointly sponsored by PMAC, MeRC (McMaster eBusiness Research Centre) and the Ontario Research Network for Electronic Commerce (ORNEC). Its ultimate aims are to make businesses more competitive by substantively improving supply chain management and to demonstrate how eBusiness tools and processes can enhance global supply chains.
RFID debuts at Symposium
A key topic at the Symposium was RFID (radio frequency identification) technology that some presenters predicted would replace UPC and barcodes within the decade. RFID permits much more robust inventory identification, tracking and management than UPC or other bar codes. Using radio, the technology permits active querying of RFID chips as they pass through the supply chain. The technology is currently in beta testing by several large organizations globally including Wal-Mart.
RFID chips have the capacity to store and provide a great deal more information than is currently possible with UPC codes. The depth of detail is limited only by the size and sophistication of the particular RFID chip. RFID offers so many cost and supply chain advantages that implementation is inevitable. According to MeRCs Special Advisor and McMaster Professor Emeritus Dr. Norm Archer, who chaired a Symposium panel discussion on the future of RFID, the technology will be pervasive within a decade.
eProcurement payoffs encouraging
Another consistent theme was the payoffs organizations are realizing as a direct result of implementing eProcurement systems. For example, in his presentation Buying Through Online Auctions, Kodak eProcurement specialist Rick Switzer said the company, which began using online bidding technology three years ago, is realizing an average of 12 per cent savings and has achieved as much as 60 per cent savings in some online bidding events.
Tibbet and Britten Group Director of Strategic Sourcing and eProcurement John Hare told a Symposium session the outcomes from the organizations eProcurement program have been dramatic. They have reduced their supplier base from more than 3,700 to just 400, and realized annual savings of more than US$1 million.
The eProcurement benefits for Tibbet and Britten extend far beyond cost savings, Hare said. It is the front end for the organizations drive for a paperless supply chain. eProcurement improves internal controls significantly. It provides rich supply information enabling more effective negotiation and the system ensures vendor compliance.
Award Winners
Symposium judges give two awards, one each for best academic paper and best practitioner presentation. The 2004 winner for practitioners is Kodak eProcurement Specialist Rick Switzer. Switzer is a C.P.P. holder and has been a PMAC member since 1987.
The winning academic paper was presented by Shu Han, Dr. Ravichandran & Dr. Hasan of Lally School of Management , Rensselaer Polytechnic in Troy N.Y. They jointly won for their paper entitled The Impact of Institutional Pressures on Information Systems Investment: An Empirical Investigation.
Symposium 2005
According to Glenda MacDonald, MeRC Manager, the 2005 Symposium is tentatively scheduled for about the same time next year and the same locale the Bristol Wyndham Hotel near Torontos Pearson International Airport.
RFID potential raises government privacy concerns
While tests are limited to the pallet and/or crate level, RFID has the potential to expand down to the level of individual product-units. This is raising serious concerns about privacy. In fact keynote speaker Ontario Information and Privacy Commission Ann Cavoukian told the Symposium that RFID could come into direct conflict with privacy legislation worldwide, unless steps are taken in the design stage of RFID systems to address RFIDs potential for invasive information gathering and distribution.
RFID is not just a business issue, Cavoukian told the Symposium. It is a privacy issue because of RFIDs potential, at the sales or even post-sales level, to gather and distribute detailed consumer information. The possibility of personal information entering the equation makes RFID of great interest to regulators.
Cavoukian said that the solutions to privacy concerns were neither invasive nor difficult. If RFID is switched off by default at the point of sale, and that fact is well communicated to consumers, anxieties about privacy will be substantially resolved. She noted that consumers could be given the choice of re-activating RFID, but the key word is choice.
|
