Ron Ireland was one of the leaders in Wal-Mart's effort to develop its supply chain processes for collaborative forecasting and replenishment execution using retail links for communicating point-of-sale, forecasts, and inventory information to its suppliers. As a result he helped pioneer the retail industry standard called Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR). This collaborative process, which involves sharing information with supply chain partners in real-time, enables substantially improved planning and financial results. Using his extensive knowledge and first-hand experience, Ireland, with Colleen Crum, demonstrates what is necessary to achieve successful win-win trading partner collaborations and describes what companies give up when they don't collaborate. Since an effective supply chain collaboration effort requires flexibility when adapting to each partner's capabilities and the business environment, this book presents a blueprint that you can customize to fit your company's and your company's trading partners' needs to achieve success. Supply Chain Collaboration shows you how to implement CPFR and other best collaborative practices quickly and successfully in almost any organization. Wal-Mart, Procter & Gamble and other highly successful companies are reaping huge competitive benefits from the CPFR process. Learn from the "pioneer" of CPFR how your organization can as well.