Information supply chain management

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Under Information Supply Chain Management (ISCM) refers to the management of information supply chains.

Based on the term Supply Chain Management , Information Supply Chain Management (ISCM) deals with the question of an optimal design of information supply chains within companies and across company boundaries.

In the age of the Internet and the expectation of a consistent supply of information across all sales channels, optimal information supply chain management has become a decisive competitive factor for companies that drive communication.

Information management as a competitive factor

With the Internet, a media channel emerged that revolutionized the information world. In addition to already existing information channels such as print, data exchange and advertising in radio and television, this means a more complex structure of information distribution and procurement for companies involved in communication.

While companies were able to manage and supply their communication channels relatively cleanly in the 1990s, information is now accessible almost at any time. It is no longer just crucial to provide the right goods at the best price and in high quality, rather it becomes a decisive factor in purchase to generate the correct overall picture of the product or service in the customer's mind. With regard to this information and communication society , information management , the optimal handling of information, has emerged as a decisive factor influencing the competitiveness of companies.

In times of competitive pressure, variety, internationalization, the resulting complexity and dynamism, competitive advantages can be achieved above all if it is possible to integrate all company activities in a seamless process through information and communication. In this way, internal and cross-company processes can be optimized along the value chain and the necessary information can be made available to potential customers in an optimal form at all times.

The information supply chain

The basis for interlocking information flows is an optimally integrated information supply that ensures that the right information is provided to the right user at the right time and in the right form.

It is not only necessary that the desired information is available, but above all that it does justice to the complexity structure of all value-added actors involved. Selecting the crucial data from enormous amounts of data, processing it into information and transmitting it in a targeted manner is decisive for success.

Cost, time, quality and flexibility advantages can therefore be realized in the best possible way and lead to higher profitability for all members of the value chain if a continuous flow of materials (classic supply chain) corresponds to a continuous and coordinated flow of information.

Information Supply Chain Management - Central management of information flows

The main task of information supply chain management is to integrate a large number of individual, independent information flows into this coordinated information flow with as little redundancy as possible.

The main challenge lies in the coordination of an overall process based on holistic information management. Since information is usually generated, collected, accessed and forwarded within the company in a wide variety of IT systems, the networking or integration of individual IT systems and thus central, media-neutral data storage are inseparably linked. The interdisciplinary linking of different systems from the areas of ERP , PIM , MAM , e-commerce and workflow form the core of information supply chain management.

The information supply chain “must be automated and centrally managed from product development to delivery” (Thomas Lucas-Nülle: Order is no magic in VISAVIS ECONOMY 01/10, p. 32).

literature

  • J. Biethan, H. Mucksch, W. Ruf: Holistic Information Management Volume 1: Basics. Oldenbourg, 2004, p. 1.
  • A. Busch: Integrated Supply Chain Management. Wiesbaden 2004, p. 173f.
  • G. Fischer: Concise Dictionary of Economics (HdWW). Volume 2, Stuttgart et al. 1980, p. 128.
  • T. Lucas-Nülle: Order is not magic. In: VISAVIS ECONOMY. 01/10, pp. 32-37.
  • T. Lucas-Nülle: Product Information Management in Germany Market Study 2005. Northeim 2005, p. 9.
  • T. Lucas-Nülle: Corporate and product communication including market research 2007 Germany, Austria, Switzerland and DACH provider panel. Northeim 2007, p. 5ff.
  • B. Reitweiser (Ed.), H. Buhl, A. Huther: Information Age Economy. Heidelberg 2001, p. 174, p. 175.
  • R. Schütte (Ed.), T. Rottwohe, R. Holten: Data Warehouse Management Manual : Concepts, Software, Experiences. Berlin et al. 2001, p. 50.