Todays supply chains are more complex than ever. Managed well, they provide huge competitive advantage. Managed badly they represent enormous business risk, inhibiting profitability and market responsiveness.

As companies pursue the advantages of international trade, global sourcing and outsourced manufacturing, they struggle to manage Supply Chain Communities made up of countless suppliers and business partners, across huge global territories and time zones.

And as Supply Chain complexity has increased - so has its cost of operation. In most global corporations the Supply Chain now eats up around 22% of corporate revenues.

Without access to information and an ability to control events as they happen, companies have little chance of reducing these costs.

Enterprise systems have gone a long way towards improving internal processes but, because they can't communicate freely with external trading partners, they can't support a Supply Chain that extends beyond the company itself, out to its community of trading partners and suppliers. EDI can create links to external organisations but, because it's time consuming to install and expensive to operate, it's not a viable option for Supply Chain communities with many members.