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Over the years, SCM has evolved from mere relationships between buyer and supplier to complex value chain in which partners in the supply chain work towards its consolidation. Their efforts have resulted in the complex supply chain that characterizes SCM today, including sustaining competitive advantage, improved processes, production lead time, innovation and value added to the process of supply and distribution. As a result, the distance between the customer and the supplier has decreased significantly. Moreover, the process of SCM development has continued even today (Williams, Esper, and Ozment 2002). The evolution of eSCM, as discussed earlier, has resolved several issues of integration such as:

a. Technical Integration

b. Application Integration

c. Business Integration

Initially through EDI, and later on through the Internet, eSCM has transitioned online to a platform that enables businesses to coordinate their organizational functions and processes harmoniously, including processes of Human Resource Management, change management, information networks, performance measurement, and communication flow (Kotzab, Skjoldager and Vinum 2003). This has been made possible through structural and technological change in eSCM.

Clearly, eSCM is a platform that organizations in the manufacturing business cannot go without. Not only eSCM is a valuable approach to production and supply management, but also an efficient framework for organizations to adopt in order to effectively compete in the global market. eSCM provides the following benefits to the adopter:

i. Organizational information integration

ii. Process improvement to optimize resources and reduce cost of operation

iii. Improved communication network to critical partners in the value chain such as manufacturers, suppliers, buyers etc. (not necessarily individual consumers)

iv. Faster information access and exchange to improve customer response time

v. Planning and strategic development

Despite these benefits, organizations also face a host of eSCM pitfalls,

including the following:

i. Technological platform compatibility

ii. Cost of implementation

iii. Training

iv. Employee reluctance in learning

v. Level of management commitment to the programme

vi. Technological development and upgrades

Organizations that adopt eSCM also need to adopt ERP systems. ERP is a supply chain tool that helps business integration into the new supply chain environment. It complements SCM in implementation, management and integration of business function. Essentially, it is a software application which integrates functions like financial, sales and distribution, materials management, human resource management, production planning and manufacturing, and customer profile. ERP has become a critical tool for today's organizations that aspire to compete with rivals in the global marketplace (Tarn et al 2002; Shehab et al 2004).

ERP systems are efficient, yet they are also vulnerable to risks and issues such as compatibility, infrastructure inte本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。