I recently hosted a round table on On-Demand Demand Software for the Electronics Supply Chain Association (esca) Spring Symposium.

The great thing about the esca event was that it covered the whole length and breadth of the electronics supply chain, from fabs to retailers.  At other forums it is easy to be insular and complain about "the others". But when your customers suppliers and competitors are in the same room you have to have your facts right and keep an open mind.  The esca has developed a culture of spirited discussion that I am proud to be a part of.

The event was attended by around 160 representatives of the entire electronics supply chain. There were speakers from the SIA, Radio Shack,  Solectron, HP, SAP, Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, webMethods, Silicon Microstructures, Spansion, Altera, and yours truly.

It was truly a unique forum and a credit to the organizers. 

We also launched the esca Progression Model (ePM), which is a new model for the strategic design of supply chain relationships.

Bottom Line: Got to esca to get a different perspective.  Stay tuned for more on the ePM.