Although companies have spent the last few decades lavishing attention and technology on anyone but the folks in procurement, it is starting to dawn on big business that the Internet can revolutionize the way purchasing is done. WebMaster Editor in Chief Lew McCreary says procurement activity is just the leading edge of a trend that will become increasingly pervasive.
Procurement is only one among many processes that are ripe for Web-enabled retooling.
What used to be called reengineering can now occur at a fraction of reengineering's cost, complexity and cultural difficulty. What's clear from looking at the procurement-process experience is that the Web can help fundamentally reinvent the way things are done. For the pilot, Roden's team partnered with Office Depot and VWR Scientific Products, a large distributor of scientific supplies. Items are delivered the next day. MIT officially rolled out the system, called Ecat, in March.