ABSTRACT
The organizational structure of the company is characterized by six market divisions that deal primarily with the distribution channel: food store, discount store, drug store, food service, warehouse clubs, international. The case provides the analysis of a supply chain initiative based on the Internet adoption rather than describing one specific relationship. In particular, the general aim of the research is to discover what are the motivations driving companies towards the use of the Internet in customer- supplier relationships, what are the possible tools, and what is the effect on the relationships themselves. Starting from 1998 Grapes decided to adopt internet reverse auctions in the procurement process of some products that the company used to buy through that calm, long term and consolidated kind of relationships. The structure of supply chain plants have been transformed into two different typologies: System Integration and New Products.
