ENHANCING BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS VIA ELECTRONIC INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES - WOOD PRODUCTS SELLERS AND HOMECENTER BUYERS

The homecenter market, driven by the repair and remodel demand sector, represents an important high-growth market for many primary wood prod ucts. The use of labels attached to each piece of lumber. plywood, and other forest products containing a universal product code (UPC) barco de to use with point-of-sale scanning devices represents a necessary r equirement to serve an expanding homecenter customer base. Demand for UPC barcoded products and the proliferation of other electronic inform ation technologies, including the use of electronic data interchange ( EDI) to link wood products suppliers to homecenter customers, are bein g driven by large homecenter chains and are increasingly being used as a criteria in vendor selection. These technologies, representing a me ans by which products may be differentiated and business relationships enhanced, may serve as tools for a long-term and sustainable competit ive advantage. This paper provides a current assessment of the state o f the wood products and homecenter industries regarding UPC barcoding and EDI, examines the impact of these technologies on the formation of strategic alliances, and presents implications for the future of this important distribution system for wood products.