Web Mashups in the Supply Chain

Many supply chains include multiple parties with the goods exchanged several times from the time of their production until they are sold. The liability issues that arise from goods changing hands several times along the way, as well as the exporting and importing regulations that have to be considered, add considerable complexity to the system. Furthermore weather, traffic, and market fluctuations make supply chains less reliable. Many of these issues in supply chain management could be solved or their adverse effects lessened by having information more readily shared among parties. Using Web 2.0 technologies such as a Service-Oriented Architecture, web mashups, blogs, wikis, and social networking sites could be used to facilitate sharing information between parties in a supply chain. This paper focuses on analyzing the potential use of web mashups by enterprises in the supply chain industry. Web mashups, the supply chain, and the security implications of using web mashups in the supply chain are analyzed to determine if it would be worthwhile to use web mashups in the supply chain industry.