Harley-Davidson is using the Internet to further improve its supply chain performance. In 2000 the company launched an interactive Internet-based supply chain management strategy that was expected to place a large portion of the company's supply chain management onto the Internet. It provided all suppliers with information they need to conduct online financial transactions and reduce the time spent chasing invoices. Suppliers are linked by a window of electronic portal to critical business transaction information, including data on delivery and quality performance and the status of financial transactions. They can look at production schedules and delivery requirements and assess their ability to meet those schedules Documents and information previously sent using an EDI format are now sent more cheaply through the Internet, , which is also more universally available to supply companies , particularly smaller ones.
what has been the effect of these changes in supply chain management at Harley-Davidson?They reduced supply chain costs (i.e.,goods and services) by$37 mil-lion;the company now lnanages its inventory according to a just-in-time (JIT) system, and it runs on 6.5 to 10 days' worth of inventory compared to 8 to 15 days of inventory in 1995; its logistics and distribution center costs as a percentage of sales decreased by 59%. By any measure Harley-Davidson's supply chain management strategy has been a success.