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By ManMohan S. Sodhi
Continuing the discussion on virtual electronic
communities and the Web from my recent columns, I will
survey three logistics Web sites from the viewpoint of how
such Web sites enable communication among professionals. The
first site, Logistics Mosaic, illustrates use of the Web for
communication and distributing documents in a large
organization. The second site, Loglink, provides a database
of Web sites of companies in the logistics industry using a
"low maintenance" design. The third site is that of the
Council of Logistics Management emphasizing clean design. In
their own way, all three illustrate design elements and
choices for creating virtual communities.
The Logistics Mosaic
The Logistics Mosaic
(http://www.acq.osd.mil/log/mosaic),
an official U.S. government system for authorized
unclassified use, provides many DoD documents and other
information in six categories: (1) (Information) Systems,
(2) Organizations, with links to Web sites of various DoD
logistics-related organizations, (3) Commodities in
categories ranging from Clothing to Construction, (4)
Processes with documents like the Overall Logistics Process
Chart, (5) Functions with sub-categories like Materiel
Management, and (6) Infrastructure with such documents like
Defense Information Infrastructure. The site should be quite
useful not only to DoD logistics professionals, but also to
vendors. The site also provides such information as speeches
or presentations in audio or video form along with
presentation slides. Design features include:
- Direction from the top: A successful Web site in an
organization should not only have support but also
guidance on objectives from the leadership. According to
the site's Webmaster, Jay Thomas, "The Logistics Mosaic
was built on a concept developed by Mr. John Phillips,
the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Logistics. My
boss, Raymond Archer, turned the concept of logistics as
the interaction of thousands of [supply, maintenance,
transportation, etc.] elements into a foundation
[comprising] six elements on the main page."
- Useful research information and tools: These include
such external Web sites as Congressional records, CNN
News, and text of the U.S. budget potentially useful to a
DoD logistics professional writing a proposal, complete
with links to sites providing an online dictionary and
thesaurus.
- Open to all: One feature that large geographically
dispersed companies should consider is the open access
feature of the site. You would expect such a site to be
restricted to DoD, but when you think about DoD as an
umbrella of DoD groups as well as its vendors and
civilian employees, the open design makes sense.
Loglink
Loglink
(http://www.loglink.com)
is primarily a database of Web sites of companies in the
logistics industry. The main menu has a simple search
facility and a long category list, with each menu item
actually querying the database when clicked. There is a
large number of categories — air cargo, colleges and
universities, fleet management, rail, etc. — but not
all menu selections retrieve information. All in all, the
"low maintenance" design has both pros and cons:
- Centralized database: All entries go to a central
database, with the menu items simply doing a query. So
there are no additional Web pages to maintain.
- User-supplied information: If users provide
information — and they should do so willingly as
they get to advertise their product/services — there
is little work for the Webmaster. However, information
can get out-of-date as was the case with conferences.
- Leveraging external sources of information: The site
has links to other sites including Associated Press and
Fox News, and clicking such a link sends a query for
trucking news.
Council of Logistics Management (CLM)
The CLM site
(http://www.clm1.org/)
— note the "1" (one) after CLM in the Web address
— focuses on CLM services to its members. The design
highlight of this site is indeed its simple interface and
the work that must go into keeping it that way. Design
features include:
- Clear communication about the organization: The main
page includes organization-specific information in these
categories: Mission, Membership, Services, Publications,
Roundtables and Allied Organizations. Also, the site
details staff responsibilities in order to make it easier
for CLM members to interact with them.
- Simplicity of interface: The interface, structured
like a printed newsletter, is quite pleasant with just
the right amount of menu items and links so you do not
have to click repeatedly for related information.
- Hooks for the broader community: The CLM site has a
target audience larger than its membership, and it has
provided information for this audience: results from an
annual survey of logistics executives conducted by Ohio
State University, and a well-designed alphabetical list
of logistics programs offered by different universities
that is worth emulating by INFORMS Online for listing
OR/MS programs.
Conclusion
So how does one create a virtual electronic community, or
even a useful Web site? As the above sites show, there is a
huge range of design choices based on needs of the target
users of such a service and on the amount of time and
resources one wants to put in creating and maintaining the
site.
Dr. ManMohan S. Sodhi is Senior Consultant at Sabre
Technology Solutions. He is the founder of the OR news
group, sci.op-research, and helped design and create INFORMS
Online. He can be reached at
[email protected] |
