November 2002

UK businesses are still not taking proper advantage of the Internet to manage their supply chains, according to two newly-published surveys.

In a survey of past and present visitors to Softworld Supply Chain events, organiser Imark found that only 48 per cent of respondents were currently using Internet technology to manage product order and delivery. Yet over half claimed that responding to customer demands and improving service was their main reason for changing supply chain requirements.

A similar picture is painted by software supplier Frontstep, which says that in a survey of 50 UK manufacturers, 35 per cent "did not expect to become part of an e-supply chain in the foreseeable future." And only 16 per cent had a Web site that could take an order. For 82 per cent, "e-business" simply meant having a corporate Web site.

The Softworld survey goes on to report that only 15 per cent of respondents used Internet technology throughout their supply chain at all levels, while 23 per cent were planning to implement a total Web-enabled supply chain soon. Seventy-two per cent claimed that their supply chains were integrated internally, but only 20 per cent said they were fully integrated externally, while 28 per cent of respondents planned to integrate in the near future.

At a lecture entitled e-business - Hype, Myth and Reality held by the Open University Business School this autumn, David Barnes, a lecturer in management, summed up the problem when he suggested that companies "often view e-commerce as a new strategy, instead of as a technology which should be integrated into existing business practices."