Constructing an e-Supply Chain at Eastman Chemical Co.
1.What are the options available to Nagase for connecting with Eastman?
2. What factors can be used to measure Nagase how well to use webMethods services and
tools?
3. Which part of system and business processes do you think could be improved for both
Eastman and Nagase?
1. What are the options available to Nagase for connecting with Eastman?
There are three options available to Nagase for connecting with Eastman. The first one is
Eastman Online Storefron, which allows customers to input orders to Eastman through
Eastman’s Website, eastman.com. This was the approach that Nagase had been using and
could log in and place or check order. However, the limitations of this approach are that
the manual process was slow and prone to human error. The second approach is
e-Ventures, which means that there are many industry solutions available for Nagase. For
example, a third party ChemConnect provides online services that connect buyers to sellers
using XML technology. The advantage of this is that subscribers do not pay more attention
on implementation, as ChemConnect handles the customisation of information systems for
them. This is good news to companies that lack technical expertise. The drawbacks of this
option are that: first, Nagase would lose some flexibility in the architectural design;
second, the implementation process will be very costly. The third option is
System-to-system Integration (ISS), which is based on the CIDX standard, automates the
purchase-order loop. ISS allows companies to by-pass the middlemen, and offers greater
flexibility for customisation according to the customer’s needs.
