Double spiral trajectory between retail, manufacturing and customers leads a way to service oriented manufacturing

Notwithstanding Japan's ineffective utilization of the potential benefits of the advancement of IT, certain self-propagating interaction between ERP (enterprise resources planning) firms and their customers has been observed. Advanced utilization of ERP enables firms to construct a virtuous cycle between the affluence in the commodities in sales, productivity and profits leading to an active involvement of the consumers, thereby constructing a double spiral trajectory between ERP customers and their customers (consumers).These noteworthy trends can be observed in certain EEMRs (electric and electronic mega retail firms) which incorporate invaluable advantages as close not only to electric and electronic manufacturing industry but also to consumers.These firms have constructed a virtuous cycle between the affluence in the commodities in sales, productivity and profit which suggests a double spiral trajectory between EEMRs, manufactures and consumers. This double spiral trajectory prompts us a new concept of manufacturing industry as SOM (service oriented manufacturing) corresponding to a ubiquitous society.This paper, based on an empirical analysis taking Japan's leading EEMRs, attempts to demonstrate the foregoing hypothesis.