• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Library
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Exostar Knowledge Forum Seeks to Improve A&D Industry's Supply Chain

Exostar Knowledge Forum Seeks to Improve A&D Industry's Supply Chain

October 8, 2009
Jean V. Murphy, SupplyChainBrain

Founded in 2000 at the height of the B2B frenzy, Exostar is one of the few supply chain exchanges that is still standing. Indeed, it has grown into a thriving hub that provides extensive services and support for the complex trading needs of the world's largest aerospace and defense companies, including its founding members: BAE Systems, the Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin Corp., Raytheon Co., and Rolls-Royce. Add on the large network of A&D suppliers, and today Exostar is helping more than 40,000 companies worldwide reduce supply chain risk, improve agility, and strengthen trading partner relationships and profitability.

This success requires a significant amount of collaboration, which Exostar both relies on and enables. "One of the unique qualities of the aerospace and defense industry is that it is very good at co-opetition," says Peter Scott, vice president of supply chain solutions at Exostar. "Two companies may compete fiercely in one area while partnering and collaborating in another area."

This attitude made possible Exostar's latest initiative, launched earlier this year: The Supply Chain Knowledge Forum, an online networking site and thrice yearly conference devoted to supply chain issues in the A&D industry. "The idea for the knowledge forum was generated as we deployed the new generation of our supply chain platform," Scott says. "This platform has a lot of capabilities and we saw a wide range in how customers were using these capabilities. We realized there was a lot of information and experience that would be useful for companies to share."

The concept quickly expanded beyond just platform capabilities. At the three yearly Knowledge Forum meetings, "we talk about supply chain processes and emerging practices more than about Exostar products," Scott says. "We pick a theme based on input from the participants and we bring in an industry expert to kick off the day and discuss that theme at a high level, painting the broad picture of the drivers and characteristics of the challenge. Different customers then contribute their experiences and that drives the vast majority of the dialog and knowledge sharing," says Scott.  The most recent meeting in September focused on managing supplier information and supplier risk.

Of course, Exostar learns from these discussions as well. "Very often customers have advice for Exostar about where our products should go next," says Scott. "That input is very useful for our planning."

The forum is different from a software user group because "the discussions are at a much higher level, and focus on business processes and business benefits," Scott asserts. "Technology typically comes into the discussion only in terms of how it can support these things. We do not bring in people who lay fingers on keyboards and demonstrate what applications can do."

Exostar also is building a web site around the Knowledge Forum. This will be a closed (non-public) network where participants have access to the materials that have been shared and can upload new information to the community. "Along with discussion threads, the community can create a repository of knowledge around different topics relating to supply chain excellence and emerging best practices."

The Exostar model seems like a really good one -- not unlike a collegial supply chain center of excellence -- which other industries could emulate. But is it a model that, like the success of Exostar itself, is suited only to the characteristics of the A&D industry? Scott thinks the latter may be the case. "A lot of what we are doing at Exostar has to do with the very open attitude of participants," he says. "We are fortunate that our customers see a lot of value in sharing information and trying to drive industry best practices. They are a passionate group."

Could the Exostar model work in your industry?

Comment on This Story

    RELATED CONTENT

    RELATED VIDEOS

    Business Strategy Alignment Global Supply Chain Management Supply Chain Security & Risk Mgmt Aerospace & Defense
    KEYWORDS Aerospace & Defense Business Strategy Alignment Global Supply Chain Management SC Security & Risk Mgmt Supply Chain Analysis & Consulting
    Jean V. Murphy, SupplyChainBrain

    Will Recovery Bring a Different Kind of Pain?

    More from this author

    Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter!

    Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

    Popular Stories

    • A MAN APPLIES PACKING TAPE TO A BROWN CARDBOARD BOX IN A LIVING ROOM OR OFFICE

      How Apparel and Retail Companies Are Implementing Intelligent Returns

      Reverse Logistics
    • A MASKED WOMAN USING A TABLET CAN BE SEEN CHECKING WAREHOUSE INVENTORY.

      Warehousing and Storage Most Stressful Industry in U.S., Report Finds

      HR & Labor Management
    • A ROW OF CHILDREN SITS CARVING WOODEN PANELS ON A DIRT FLOOR.

      Is Artificial Intelligence a Solution for Modern Slavery?

      Logistics
    • The interior of a retail clothing store can be seen. A manager in a black shirt is using a digital tablet in the foreground of the photo. Photo: iStock.com/B4LLS

      Transforming Supply Chains for the World’s Largest Retailers

      Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • A SHIP LOADED WITH ORANGE CONTAINERS MAKES WAY UNDER A BRIDGE OVER A MUDDY BROWN WATERWAY

      Panama Chaos Grows as U.S. Diesel Shippers Bypass Canal

      Ocean Transportation

    Digital Edition

    Scb nov 2023 lg

    2023 Supply Chain Innovation Award

    VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

    Case Studies

    • A GRAPHIC SHOWING MULTIPLE FORMS OF SHIPPING, WITH A HUMAN STANDING AT THE CENTER, TOUCHING A SYMBOLIC MAP OF THE WORLD

      Enhancing High-Value Electronics Shipment Security with Tive's Real-Time Tracking

    • A GRAPHIC OF INTERLACING HONEYCOMBED ELEMENTS REPRESENTING GLOBAL BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS

      Moving Robots Site-to-Site

    • JLL Finds Perfect Warehouse Location, Leading to $15M Grant for Startup

    • Robots Speed Fulfillment to Help Apparel Company Scale for Growth

    • New Revenue for Cloud-Based TMS that Embeds Orderful’s Modern EDI Platform

    Visit Our Sponsors

    Antuit Zebra Anvyl AutoStore
    BEUMER Group Blue Ridge Global Brightdrop
    Brother CHEP Cleo
    Coenterprise Comarch Data Capture
    E2open Enveyo Eva Air
    ForwardX Robotics Frayt GAINSystems
    Generix Geodis GEP
    Global Supply Chain Marketing Summit GreyOrange Here
    HICX Holman Logistics Infor
    Inmar Kinaxis Lexis Nexis
    Locus Robotics Logility LogistiVIEW
    Lucas Systems MCA Connect MCA Connect
    Moody’s Analytics MPO Old Dominion
    OneRail Overhaul PartnerLinQ (Visionet)
    Port of Virginia Rockwell Automation Ryder E-commerce by Whiplash
    Saddle Creek Logistics SAP Servicon
    Shyft Sourcemap SPS Commerce
    Tecsys TGW Systems Thomson Reuters
    Veho Verusen Walmart
    Workshop
    • More From SCB
      • Featured Content
      • Video Library
      • Think Tank Blog
      • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
      • Whitepapers
      • On-Demand Webinars
      • Upcoming Webinars
    • Digital Offerings
      • Digital Issue
      • Subscribe
      • Manage Your Subscription
      • Newsletters
    • Resources
      • Events Calendar
      • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
      • Supplier Directory
      • Case Study Showcase
      • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
      • 100 Great Partners Form
    • SCB Corporate
      • Advertise on SCB.COM
      • About Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact Us
      • Data Sharing Opt-Out

    All content copyright ©2023 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

    Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing