Case Study Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Case Study Summary - Essay Example Most of the processes are automated, but there is a need for human intervention for checking the system. This translated into the scenario where unexpected demand or troubles with the equipments caused inventory management and customer service problems. The year of 1999 was very difficult due to weak international economies, a shortened demand, over-capacity, and a squeeze on prices and margins. So the people at Eastman Chemical Company set the goal of better customer service, lowering operating costs, improving plant performance, and reducing inventory costs. There was a clear need for improving the supply chain planning processes. The solution for Eastman Chemical Company was to implement agile demand planning, agile production scheduling, and efficient distribution of inventories. (Ng, 2002: pp. 1-3). Eastman was the first chemical enterprise to do business online. Eastman was an early adopter of the Internet as an excellent medium of information for leveraging its capabilities. Eastman, headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, United States, manufactured over 1,200 chemicals, fibers, and plastics. It was one of the top 10 global suppliers of custom-manufactured fine chemicals for pharmaceutical, agricultural, chemicals, and other markets for a wide array of consumer products. On December 5, 2001, the publication Chemical Week placed Eastman worldwide as 43rd by sales, 59th by profitability, and 29th by innovation in the global industry. As a pioneer in e-business, Eastman had the following online strategy: In July, 1999, Eastman launched its Customer Center over the Internet at eastman.com. At the core of Eastman’s e-business strategy there was the Integrated System Solution (ISS) as the technical architecture for implementing the necessary interconnectivity at the supply chain level. By the year of 2001, Eastman was making about 30% of its sales through eastman.com, eastamanmarketplace.com, online marketplaces, EDI and ISS as its