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Knecpaper July series2020?

that will be discussed include integration and implementation benefits, implementation considerations, and arguments that position ERP systems as an enabler for competitive success. An overview of the evolution of electronic procurement, is provided in Fig. 3.1. A Common Theme: Facilitating Information Flows Fundamental to the realization of benefits from electronic procurement applications is the facilitation of information flows through electronic means. Such information flows can be both internal and external to the organization. Internal information flows that may benefit from an IT infrastructure include the requisitioning process, in which an internal user Communicates their need to procurement. While this had been done via paperbased forms and memos, it is evident how an electronic enablement of this process can yield great advantages in terms of efficiencies. External information flows pertain to those that link the buying organization with its suppliers. It is also evident here how IT-enabled routines can make the lives of both parties easier. Just think about the communication of demand forecasts and delivery schedules. While this information can certainly be transmitted in paper-based memos, doing so electronically is much more efficient, avoids non-value-added work for both parties, and reduces error and redundancies. It is due to these types of process efficiencies enabled by IT that I am referring to these early systems, as described in this chapter, as being the precursors of what we call electronic procurement today. Electronic Data Interchange The origins of EDI can be traced back to US Army Master Sargent Edward A. Guilbert, and his management of the logistics of the Berlin Airlift (Brewer 2013; Hayes 2002). After World War II, when the Soviet Union cut off