e-Business and what it means for manufacturing

'e-Business in Manufacturing: Putting the Internet to work in the Industrial Enterprise' has been published by Shari L S Worthington and Walt Boyes. Now that all the Internet hype is sorting itself out, the industry is embarking on a sea change of monumental proportions. In the next decade, manufacturers will change the way they perform many functions, from interacting with customers to controlling plant-floor processes.

What is about to occur is as significant a change as letters of credit were in the Middle Ages, or railroads were in the 19th Century.

The first part of the 21st Century will finally see the much-discussed convergence of business, communications, and computing.

e-Business in Manufacturing takes a detailed look at that convergence and what it will mean for the manufacturing organization.

What we're talking about is much more than e-commerce.

What will emerge is a change in how industry will work.

The manufacturing enterprise of the 21st century will blend sound business practices with the power and reach of the Internet's networked conversations.

Manufacturing companies will learn to put the Internet's myriad of communication tools to work for them, allowing them to fully participate in the global networked market.

e-Business in Manufacturing is about the creation of an 'extended enterprise.' From the sign out front to the loading door out back, there are changes happening in the way companies buy tools, parts, raw materials, and even services.

There are changes happening in the way product designers develop new offerings and in the way pricing managers price products.

There are changes in the way marketing departments are interacting with customers and how customers are seeing their vendors.

For the first time, the independent initiatives of Sales Force Automation, Manufacturing Automation, and Information Systems are being integrated and transformed.

Customer Relationship Management is impacting far more than just sales and marketing.

Manufacturing Automation and Supply Chain Integration are combining to produce an organization that functions as a single, real-time value chain, from raw material to customer.

e-Business in Manufacturing looks at each part of the enterprise-from sales and marketing to manufacturing and logistics-and shows how enabling real-time interaction can result in a significant increase in revenue while at the same time produce a leaner, more efficient organization.

To order, visit http://www.isa.org/isastore/isastore.cfm?Store=11 Worthington, Shari L S and Walt Boyes, 'e-Business in Manufacturing: Putting the Internet to Work in the Industrial Enterprise.' Research Triangle Park, NC: ISA Press, 2001.