The evolution of e-commerce strategy and supply chain management practices in the steel manufacturing industry - A longitudinal case study of BHP Steel (Aust)

A central concern of businesses who seek to be successful in e-commerce environments is: " How are companies both old and new moving from traditional applications to the new breed of integrated, e-business application architectures?" (Kalakota and Robinson, 2000). A recent study undertaken at BHP Billiton Steel (Aust) explores how companies evolve from a traditional supply chain philosophy to one that utilises technologies such as the Internet and Web, adding non-traditional business practices that in corporate an end consumer link. Although a number of areas within the supply chain are affected by e-commerce, the BHP Billiton Steel study deals with an emerging area for manufacturing industries, the incorporation of a business to customer link (Anderson, 2001; Bryant, 2001, Miller, 2001). The BHP Billiton Steel (Aust) study provides insights into new, emerging B2B models on the sell-side of the supply chain. Currently, there are limited models of business to customer interaction in B2B e-commerce applications, particularly in more traditional industries such as manufacturing, as documented in the extant e-commerce literature. This issue is addressed through the exploration of developments in e-commerce applications (specifically, the integration of Internet technology in supply chain management practices) within the Steel Manufacturing industry that have occurred over the past 4 years (1997-2001) at BHP Steel. A framework for business interaction with the end customer, for firms in the Steel Manufacturing industry, is also developed and presented.