Supply chain management by the electronic assistant • uSIng J. Eschenbiiche/), E. Cocqueberr) 1) Bremen Institute of Industrial Technology and Applied Work Science at the University of Bremen (BIBA), Hochschulring 20, 28359 Bremen, Germany Tel: +49 (421) 218-5532 Fax: +49 (421) 218-5610 e-mail: eb@biba.uni-bremen.de 2)Universite de Valenciennes -LAMIH-GIL (UMR CNRS nO 8530), Le Mont Houy - BP 311, F-59304 Valenciennes cedex Tel: +33 (3) 27.14.13.47 Fax: +33 (3) 27.14.12.88 e-mail: etienne. cocquebert@univ-valenciennesfr Abstract The reengineering of supply chains will have a decisive impact for the competitiveness of a company which is actually highlighted by the discussion of the SCaR-model. This will drive a demand for software tools supporting the co- operation between the different members of the supply chain which can e. g. be producers, suppliers and carriers. The electronic assistant represents a ftrst prototypical solution that supports an effective innovation management between the different distributed parties. This demand was proven by case studies conducted in multinational companies of the automotive industry in the Research project AIT Implant. Keywords Supply Chain Operations Reference Model (SCaR model) , Information and Communication technology (lCT) , Electronic Assistant (EA) , Supply Chain Management (SCM) , Computer Supported Co-operative Work (CSCW) . K. Mertins et al. (eds.), Global Production Management © Springer Science+Business Media New York 1999