Requirements for Extended Supply Chain Network

In order to extend the supply chain collaborative network to support the retail marketplace and retailer requirements there are certain requirements that must be defined and met.  This is a significant type of work that must be collected and compiled by retailers based on their experience and there strategic direction and plans and then these requirements must be reviewed against the capabilities and the strategic direction of the supply chain collaborative network in order to identify and plan to deliver those requirements.  Delivery of these retail marketplace requirements, while focused on adding to the supply chain network, must be coordinated and developed by the retailers themselves. The supply chain network provides the framework and foundation that is the basis for this development and delivery that retailers will be required to complete in order to extend the supply chain network.

This is the beginning of the extended social network that develops the connections and the capabilities that add to the base and provide the social network framework to extend partner connectivity and the capabilities to support the market.  The collaborative network requirements are now at the point where no single network can support the demands of the marketplace. We have reached a point in the market and the demands of the market where any single network, supply chain or retailer, can meet the demands without the support of the other networks.  We have also reached the point where the supply chain collaborative network can provide the guidance and the direction for retailers to extend the network to support the retail marketplace demands. Supply chain partners of and to the retailers can provide guidance and support and there will also be some heavy lifting required of the retailer to meet the demands and extend the collaborative network as well.

There is some heavy lifting requirements of the retailers to connect and extend the network to meet their needs and this is where the retailers must focus to identify the requirements to meet their individual demands from the retail marketplace.  The supply chain partners cannot be expected to meet all of the retail marketplace demands and, on the other hand, the retail partners cannot be expected to meet the all of the marketplace demands on the supply chain. This is where the relationship and the social network aspects come into play and these relationships and social network capabilities can be extended and related to meet the supply chain and the retail marketplace demands.

It is, however, a much different level of effort requires to build a collaborative network from scratch than would be required to extend an established collaborative network.  This truly is the point where we are at from a connected and end to end collaborative network in the retail marketplace. Retailers have a customer facing network that provide a great deal of capabilities to support the shopping and purchasing demands of the consumers and then the retailers are connected to the supply chain network to interact in product procurement and delivery to the end customer and there is still a disconnect between the two.  It is my opinion that there is a great deal of value in this last piece of connectivity to extend the network and this is where the focus on the future should be placed.