2001 marks an exciting shift in the history of our company. Our transformation from Andersen Consulting to Accenture is just one aspect of our goal to become a market maker, architect, and builder of the new economy. So, too, are we seeing a tremendous reinvention of supply chain management, with almost no area left untouched by the explosive changes and innovations made possible by Internet technologies.

In this environment of ongoing change, we have dedicated this issue to an exploration of the latest business models impacting supply chain management today. B2B eMarketplaces may be foremost on our minds because of their potential not only to generate procurement savings, but also to create entirely new channels and supply chain structures, improved methods of information sharing, and expanded collaboration. In addition, the power of collaborative manufacturing—building on a growing trend of outsourced manufacturing—cannot be overlooked. At the same time, integrated fulfillment is making great strides toward enabling new and traditional businesses to effectively satisfy their customer demand—whether those customers are consumers or business trading partners.

Finally, synchronization is clearly the key feature of tomorrow's supply chain. Enabled by workflow management and decision-support tools, improved supply chain visibility, and more effective product flows that minimize intermediaries, multiple inventory points, and double handling, synchronization integrates the supply chain across a network of participants.

We hope the collection of ideas that follow in these pages will help you on your supply chain journey. With so many opportunities to expand your supply chain and take advantage of the latest innovations, substantially improved supply chain performance is dependent upon evolving your operating model to take advantage of new capabilities.