Interoperability of information system

Summary

The lecture explains interoperability in supply-chain information systems through a vendor-managed inventory (VMI) arrangement between a supplier and a retailer. It distinguishes interoperability’s technical focus from supply-chain collaboration’s strategic-management focus, then describes four dimensions of interoperability and introduces the technology layers used to connect organizations’ systems.

Four dimensions of interoperability

• Data interoperability allows information to be found, shared, and understood across systems that may use different machines, operating systems, database platforms, and database structures. It requires more than moving data: organizations must also resolve differences in the meaning and naming of data.

For example, a retailer may label a value stock_level, while the supplier calls the equivalent field current stock level. Without agreed mappings, the supplier may not know what the value represents. Data-exchange standards such as EDI and XML can help address data exchange and compatibility.

• Service interoperability enables independently designed applications to work together. In the VMI example, the parties may use different ERP systems, such as SAP R/3 and Oracle E-Business Suite. Their applications need compatible interfaces to exchange information and trigger operations.

• Process interoperability connects separate process descriptions and services into a coordinated workflow. A complete VMI cycle involves many exchanges and actions, so one service alone cannot automate the whole process; multiple services must be coordinated. The lecture notes that Web Services frameworks can be extended to automate an entire business process or workflow.

• Business interoperability includes organizational and process-design considerations in addition to technical compatibility. When two organizations automate a shared process, they may need to agree on how it will operate and, if necessary, redesign their existing processes.

VMI example: how the workflow operates

In VMI, the supplier manages the retailer’s inventory using information such as point-of-sale data and store stock levels. The recurring workflow described in the lecture includes:

1. The supplier requests the retailer’s stock information.
2. The retailer sends its stock level.
3. The supplier prepares a purchase order and determines consignment-stock details.
4. The supplier sends the relevant order or shipment information to the retailer.
5. The retailer confirms receipt of the goods.
6. The retailer tells the supplier when it begins using the consignment stock.
7. The supplier sends an invoice, after which the retailer’s payment process begins.
8. The cycle repeats as stock is checked, replenished, and used.

The lecturer characterizes most of this workflow as repeated transactional activity under a broader strategic agreement. Calculating a reorder point may involve some transaction-level decision-making, but much of the process consists of updating stock information and repeating operational steps. Different parts of the information flow may be initiated by either organization.

Interoperability technology layers discussed

The lecture focuses on the communication layer, described as the lowest technical layer, and previews the content/data layer for a later lecture.

• Network compatibility: Systems depend on networks and communication protocols, including TCP/IP-related protocols. If the organizations’ networks cannot communicate, their information systems cannot exchange information.

• Remote procedure and method calls: Remote procedure calls (RPCs) and remote method invocation allow software components on different systems to request operations from one another. In object-oriented systems, objects have attributes and methods; communication involves sending messages that invoke methods. The lecture notes that implementations may be tied to particular technologies.

• Java RMI: Presented as Java’s technology-specific form of remote method invocation.

• CORBA: The Common Object Request Broker Architecture is introduced as an approach intended to avoid dependence on one specific technology or platform. If both parties’ communicating objects follow CORBA, they can communicate across different systems and locations.

The lecture concludes after introducing communication-layer interoperability and says the next class will cover interoperability at the content or data layer.

Speakers and sources featured

• Speaker: One instructor/lecturer; no other speakers are identified.
• Technical standards, technologies, and systems mentioned: EDI, XML, TCP/IP, RPC, Java RMI, CORBA, SAP R/3, and Oracle E-Business Suite.