A slightly different perspective. Internally most people have their own local optimisations around SCM that mean that packages are often more customised than standardised (this probably is a bad idea but its what people do). From an SOA perspective however the real value is in the interactions between the various different supply chain partners, i.e. the gap between ERP/SCM systems of different companies.
Vendor Managed Inventory as an example is an area where SOA can be applied above the various standard suppliers to provide a distributed system (i.e. it is in effect resident in multiple companies) which collaborate to achieve the end goals. So I would agree with JP that aiming at the ERP/SCM area isn't a good idea but I would say that Supply-Chain to Supply-Chain is an interesting area to look at. Steve 2009/1/23 JP Morgenthal <[email protected]>: > Sid, > > I spent three years trying to get uptake of my > Supply-Chain-as-a-Service software suite. I broke supply-chain > functions down into a set of Web Services that overlaid existing > systems and allowed mashup-type creation of new business processes. > > I found the SCM and Mfg communities were more interested in big ERP > from one vendor than best of breed solutions that could be developed > in this manner. I also found that the IT resources in these > communities were more conservative and seemed likely to only want to > deal with larger companies. That said, they are willing to examine > point solutions where they apply, but didn't have an overall > understanding for how siloed solutions would impact the business long > term. > > JP > ----------------------------------------------- > JP Morgenthal > cell : 703-554-5301 > email: [email protected] > twitter: www.twitter.com/jpmorgenthal > blog: www.jpmorgenthal.com > > On Thu, Jan 22, 2009 at 7:44 PM, Contact SH <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Hello fellow members, >>> >>> You could argue that this is not the first time such a question is >>> being asked but I would like to put a context of SOA (by the way >>> folks, yes, I mean SCM as Supply Chain and Manufacturing)... >>> >>> >>> What I am seriously interested in is your opinion and suggestions >>> around the "timeframe" you think applies to a more meaningful / full >>> scale uptake of SOA to the SCM domain.... Now it is true that >>> the "supply chain" such as Procurement, Transportation/Logistics and >>> so forth out of the SCM is already ahead of the curve AND also it is >>> usually the case that Manufacturing (by the nature of its business >>> process) is a laggard in IT.... >>> >>> So in that context, do you feel IF the SOA appeal is really strong >>> enough for Mfg to take an accelerated approach OR would they even go >>> there?? Whether Yes OR No, it would really help if you can also air >>> what you think should be the differentiator to be able to do this... >>> >>> The reason I ask is that, I am in the enterprise asset maintainence >>> domain and having realized the benefits of SOA (esp. other business >>> domains), I seriously would like my management to be >>> more "aggressive" towards SOA adoption and am looking to ideas and >>> real challenges you / your businesses have/had faced and that would >>> help me get all perspectives so I can advance this effort ... >>> >>> I assume there would be so many domain experts out here on this >>> group and thank you in advance for sharing your ideas... >> >> Sid C >> >> >
