Virtual Factory Project Tackles Integration of Supply Chain Systems

Published

January 1, 1999

Author(s)

J. Cartwright, J. Friedman, J. Minchella, Barbara L. Goldstein

Abstract

The unifaction of robust enabling technologies of the Internet and ubiquitous access is resulting in market dynamics that change the way business is being conducted by electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers. OEM/EMS enterprise relationships are no longer one-to-one or even one-to-many. Instead they are complex, distributed relationships in which many strategic partners, downstream suppliers and customers need to collaborate and share data in order to compete effectively. These new relationships, coupled with shrinking market windows and other dynamic market influences, have expiated the birth of the virtual enterprise or e-factory. While greater reliance on a supply network provides flexibility in response to unpredictable market conditions, the serious lack of standards for information integration among cross-company and inter-company systems can limit any potential efficiency gains. The National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI) has created the Virtual Factory Information Interchange Project (VFIIP) to address some of the challenges of the emerging virtual enterprise or e-factory. Focusing on factory information systems (FIS) integration between OEM's and their EMS providers, the overall purpose of this project is to define standards which, when implemented, will reduce both the time and the cost required to establish and maintain information exchange partnerships across the manufacturing supply web.

Citation

Future EMS International (UK journal), Sect. 3

Volume

2

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

National Electronics Manufacturing Initi, oursourcing, supply chain integration, virtual factory

Citation

Cartwright, J. , Friedman, J. , Minchella, J. and Goldstein, B. (1999), Virtual Factory Project Tackles Integration of Supply Chain Systems, Future EMS International (UK journal), Sect. 3, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=11060 (Accessed January 20, 2025)