QTRANS –A Supply Chain Integration Tool and a Decision Support System

As the concept of the supply chain relies on opening up to all the activities required to deliver products and services from suppliers to the end customers, physical distribution and logistics have traditionally been identified as the most visible flow. As for any other business-related process, cash flow is equally vital to identify and manage. Perhaps less obvious is the development of tools enabling the exchange of data between the extended participants of the supply chain. This paper discusses some of the challenges of ensuring that the increasing amounts of data are both relevant and current, resulting in valuable information for the participants. These challenges include understanding business process changes, capturing relevant data, and providing information for monitoring, decision support and optimization.