Next Generation Application Integration: From Simple Information to Web Services

Approaching Manufacturing, Retail, and Distribution with Supply Chain Integration

The difference between supply chain integration and application integration is in their relationship to one another. One is the rail, the other is the train. Application integration, as we've discussed, requires placing new approaches and technologies around the process of extending the reach of applications, enabling them to exchange information with other applications that exist in other organizations. Supply chain integration represents the enabling processes that run on top of the infrastructure that application integration creates (see Figure 17.2). Whereas application integration is about a tactical process that depends heavily upon technology, supply chain ...