Web 2.0 in B2B to enable supply chain visibility

• Main Author: Su, Yezhen.
• Other Authors: Stephen John Turner
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Computer science and engineering::Computer applications::Physical sciences and engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/17001
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Nowadays, achieving supply chain visibility has been a critical desire for companies. The concept of visibility here has been generally understated and has sometimes been used interchangeably with information sharing with the supply chain partners. We may posit that the information sharing is an activity among supply chain partners and the supply chain visibility is the outcome. For a good supply chain management, the information shared must be accurate, trusted, timely, useful, and in a readily usable format. However, in traditional ways for supply chain management, there are some limitations and problems because of not having adequate visibility across the supply chain—late deliveries, unplanned orders, and so on. Based on the current problems in supply chain management, the web 2.0 mashup skills are used to enable the supply chain visibility for Singapore pharmaceutical companies. Web 2.0 is a revolutionary view of the Internet with a core concept of using Internet as a platform and leverage network effect to harness the collective intelligence in a cost-effective manner. In this project, Web 2.0 mashup technology is used, and the main tool for development is Google mashup editor which take some AJAX UI components, data from database and online services or external feeds and mash them all together using its framework. With the skills of Web2.0 mashup and main objective in mind, the web-based system was developed. In order to enable the supply chain visibility, the system includes the three main components: “Inventory management” enables the ability to share and search inventory information online; “Map indicator” represents the quality of inventory information sharing. “Report service” reports the outcome of performance on inventory visibility in different ways. Although the functional requirements were met, additional features could be added to extend the capabilities of the system. Some recommendations include security enhancement, complete model to compute inventory visibility and more powerful search engine.