Complex Systems and the Science of Net-Centric Supply Chains
John A. Clendenin · SSRN Electronic Journal · 2009
Ineffective decision-making among trading partners and border control agencies is a direct result of incomplete and contradictory knowledge supplied by the sheer volume of data and documentation with no real ontology to synchronize efforts to interpret that information. The problem does not lie in the type of information being sought, but in how the data and documents get to the right decision-maker at the right time to reduce uncertainty and conform to the regulatory environment of international trade. The challenge of this complex System-of-Systems (SoS) is that the data and documentation is in multiple technical formats and structures and has to be submitted in yet different electronic configurations to traverse the multiple country borders along selected trade routes. This disparate electronic information must be interfaced and integrated into the various decision support systems and applications of the countries involved. The Internet provides the opportunity to create a semantic web community using a trade facilitation process to represent the partnerships, transactions and analysis required. Information access is achieved with a platform for informed decision-making in an integrated environment. The author examines global supply chain processes as a Complex System and offers a new approach to cross-border trade facilitation. The emergence of the science of Net-Centric technologies enables international trade that is often limited in productivity due to ineffective policy and legal standards, disparate border crossing procedures, escalating trade costs, conflicting data formats and document structures. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure supports trade facilitation by enabling real-time shipment visibility and decision-making. Concepts for advancements in supply chain management are presented as a system that leverages ICT infrastructure and web-based technologies to create a collaborative solution for data entry and document exchange in the 21st Century.