But the messages might just as well be electronic data interchange messages. My employer, Surgency, in Cambridge, Mass., was a sponsor of the precursor to CPFR, called Collaborative Forecasting and Replenishment. If both companies follow the standard, either one can track and manage the entire process, even when the process doesn't go smoothly. If there is a back order, the order is split or there is a dispute and a partial payment, you already know how to manage it. Theoretically, the standard provides enough of a framework that processes can run lights out, since normal exceptions are handled automatically.
Human intervention is required only when something extreme happens.
To run a process-standard lights out, you can't just adapt messaging software. A process standard gives options as to how it will be implemented. One pair of companies might agree that the seller will acknowledge a purchase order within one day of receipt. Another pair might have no acknowledgments. Both these standards have legs.