電子商務是利用網際網路來貫穿供應鏈頭尾中規劃與執行的重要活動。近年來電子商務的盛行也同時將傳統線性式的供應鏈型態逐漸轉向成新的價值型網絡型態。在這新型態的網絡下，information hub 擔任這新式網絡的核心中樞，它負責從顧客端收取訂單，也為供應鏈成員規劃生產活動並同時控制成員們計畫執行的進度。由information hub所主導的延展式供應鏈將突破傳統線性式供應鏈的模式，並且進一步的將參與的成員從資訊整合、同步性的規劃到工作流程的合作等層面結合起來以達到整條供應鏈的快速化與彈性化。 傳統上，系統的信賴度是由系統的實體層與軟體層分開來評估。在新的分法論下，嵌入式系統必須被視為一個整體系統。而其中系統的實體層是由軟體層來控制。從一個整體的角度來看，許多邏輯上的錯誤可能會發生在軟體層與實體層中。如何有效的發現他們是目前一個很重要的議題。DFM提供了一個架構用來分析這種嵌入式系統的問題。DFM這個方法論主要的目標有兩項分別為1)找尋系統中潛在的錯誤。2)提供一個良好的測試方法來分析系統的行為 本研究中將延展式供應鏈被視為一個嵌入式系統。從特徵上來說，利用DFM來分析扮演系統中軟體層與實體層的供應鍊規劃與執行是相當適合的。本研究將提供一個方法來評估延展式供應鏈並結合information hub為環境下評估 系統信賴度並且發展可重複用的模型用來分析整條供應鏈的潛在失效模式。 “E-Business” is the planning and execution of the front-end and back-end operations in a supply chain using the Internet (Lee, 2000). The E-Business changes the face of the chain form linear form to value networked form. Information hub which is the kernel of the supply chain takes order from customer, plans for the chain members to fulfill the plan and control the progress of the execution. Extended supply chain enabled by the information hub integrates their partners from information integration, synchronized planning and workflow coordination dimensions to achieve the high level speed and flexibility. Traditionally, hardware and software parts of a system are treated separately for system reliability and/or safety assessment. Nodaway, the embedded system is viewed as a whole system in which the functions of mechanical and physical devices are managed and controlled by the computer software. From the overall system perspective, many unanticipated combinations of logic software errors and/or hardware failures may exist at the interface between the two portions. Dynamic Flowgraph Methodology (DFM) employs a modeling framework in which system models are developed in terms of causal relationships between physical variables and temporal characteristics of the execution of software modules. The methodology has two fundamental functions: (1) identifying how certain postulated events may occur in a system; and (2) identifying an appropriate testing strategy based on an analysis of system functional behavior. In this research, the extended supply chain is considered analogous to a software-driven embedded system. It is found the characteristics of DFM are well fit to analyze extended supply chain of which Supply Chain Planning (SCP) system acts as the computer software controlling the physical Supply Chain Execution (SCE) system. Based on DFM, this research provides a method to assess the reliability of the extended supply chain and develop a reconfigurable model for analyzing potential failure modes existing in the extended supply chain.
