While the Internet may ultimately streamline and simplify supply chain relationships, the evolutionary process will add some complexity along the way. Spoke Most companies get started working with trading partners over the Internet by sub-scribing to a large partner's extranet. The best known is Wal-Mart's Retail Link, but many other companies have developed programs of their own. For example, Tesco in the U.K. has the T.I.E. system, and Kmart offers its Merchant's Workbench. These ex-tranets typically provide online access through a web browser to reports of supply chain activity, as well as key performance measures.
Data includes sales, orders, re-ceipts, and inventory.
Measures can include category sales rank, gross margin, fill rate, inventory turns and other key factors. More recently, some extranets have expanded to include supply chain collaboration capabilities. Kmart has implemented Syncra Systems' Syncra Ct' product to share and compare forecasts with suppliers and collaborate on exceptions. Wal-Mart offers some CPFR capabilities to selected suppliers through extensions to Retail Link. The first is the speed and ease of getting access.