Our interviews revealed that many firms view collaboration as a tool for use with their supply base and that they are not satisfied with the level of collaboration they have with customers. While companies felt they could exert their "muscle" on their supply base and chose to work only with more progressive suppliers, they felt "locked in" toyworking with customers who lacked sophistication. In some industries, respondents felt constrained by having to rely on telephone or fax as the primary tool for receiving demand information; across the board however, all companies interviewed have seen an increase in the use of electronic collaboration tools and welcome the technology advances that help share demand data more readily.