Most companies have digital platforms that support specific functions, such as supply chain management, product design, or operations, and they tightly regulate who may join the platform. The Chinese appliance manufacturer Haier has taken a different approach, extending its supply chain management platform to facilitate a broad range of collaborations from innovation and design to supplying materials and components to solving technical problems and providing new services. What’s more, platform membership is not limited to Haier’s suppliers. In this article, the authors offer an overview of how Haier developed its digital supply chain platform, examine how it differs from digital platforms used by other multinationals, describe how Haier and its suppliers leverage the information and relationships created by the platform to solve problems quickly, and provide guidance to companies that aspire to create a similar platform.
