In today's competitive business environment, the success of any business depends not only on improving the efficiency of their internal operations, but also on collaboration with their trading partners. The advent of e-business solutions and its applications have helped companies to get a more accurate picture of the demand and inventory patterns. The article discusses how better supply chain collaboration can improve a variety of business processes and enhance profitability.

In today's competitive world, more and more companies realize that success cannot rely solely on improving the efficiency of their internal operations and that collaboration with their trading partners can build the foundation for a competitive advantage and substantially improve their bottomline. Taking advantage of e-business solutions within application areas such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) can be of much value and help companies to better prepare for and respond to the demands of its customers. Consider for example the case of TaylorMade, which became part of adidas-Salomon in 19981. The company kept losing revenue because of its difficulty in gauging customer demand and in optimizing its supply chain and supplier relationship. Implementing new SCM, SRM and CRM solutions provided the company with a more accurate picture of actual inventory and demand patterns. This information was used to improve collaboration with the company's suppliers-many of them located in Asia, through sharing and extending demand planning processes. As a result, substantial savings were realized in transportation costs and customer service level was dramatically improved. The reduction of supply chain inefficiencies allowed TaylorMade-adidas to double its sales in the last three years and double its inventory turns in 2002 as compared to the previous year.

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