Enterprise SOA

How does a cultural transformation happen in the real world? What can SupplyOn tell us about how to manage the change inherent in ESA?

SupplyOn, based in Munich, is a flexible Internet platform for the automobile industry that connects OEMs and Tier-1s engaged in direct procurement to parts suppliers. The OEMs who use SupplyOn include BMW, Bosch, Continental, and Siemens VDO Automotive. SupplyOn has more than 9,000 parts suppliers and 25,000 registered users.

The process of direct procurement, as opposed to catalog procurement, is one in which the OEMs solicit bids from suppliers to make specific types of parts. In each deal, the design for the part must be communicated clearly to the supplier, a deal is struck, manufacturing begins, and parts are delivered. The supply chain in the automobile industry uses a variety of different models for relationships between suppliers and OEMs, such as KANBAN, Delivery Control Monitor, and Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI). All of the communication between the OEM and the parts supplier, from the collaboration on the design to the flow of information needed to manage the scheduling and manufacturing of parts, takes place through SupplyOn.

The advantages to both OEMs and parts suppliers are enormous. OEMs are able to pay one integration cost, that of adapting their systems to use SupplyOn, which then creates thousands of relationships which can be used repeatedly. Both OEMs and parts suppliers participate in customer councils that establish strategic ...