Information technology in supply networks: Does it lead to better collaborative planning?

One of the main challenges of supply chain management (SCM) is to improve collaborative planning in supply networks while preserving autonomy of each network member. In order to improve coordination and planning processes across company boundaries supply chain management systems (SCMS;, e.g. shared databases) are introduced in supply networks. Aims to address these issues.

There is a lack of knowledge about the extent to which SCMS can support collaborative planning processes. The preliminary findings concerning this question are based on a case study of a supply network in the forestry and timber industry.

The results indicate that the SCMS implemented in this forestry network has had only limited effects on collaborative planning processes so far. One possible explanation for this result is that the SCMS was implemented suboptimally (e.g. modifications of the SCMS were not communicated to users).

Supply networks in forestry have to pay close attention to change management issues when designing and implementing information technology to tap the full potential of SCMS.