Tough Collaboration

Although technology platforms are ready for collaborative commerce,Szabo feels the latter exists more in theory than practice, due to alack of understanding of the benefits of collaborative commerce. "Inour highly competitive industry, people are also keeping their optionsopen, one of which is not to share information with partners so thatthey are free to go anytime," he adds.

But sharing information with customers is more widespread today thanbefore due to the economic recession. "Suppliers realise they have toincrease efficiency by showing customers their inventory levels.Customers, on the other hand, are not buying weeks before consumptionbut want delivery within 72 hours, and the only way to fulfilon-the-spot demand is through information sharing," saysSzabo.

"The market is shifting and we see more and more people opting to notsit on their information and guarding it with their lives, butsqueezing higher profits from it," he adds.

Edward Keller maintains an open-minded approach to real-timevisibility. "Any partner who wants to view our inventory levels can doso. Our major applications are Internet-enabled, and they do notrequire special configuration on the client side. With a browser theycan log into our key reporting and ERP software and see informationbesides inventory," he says.