Information technology (IT) is having a profound impact on the ethanol industry, especial ly in the financing, construction and operations of ethanol plants. It helps to strip costs out of ethanol plant systems, promotes standardization and mitigatesproduction risks. In addition, IT: Gets plants up and running as much as 6 to 12 months sooner than otherwise; Keeps plants running to increase production efficiency. This new technology reduces operational downtime and increases the annual days of operation from 340 to as many as 361. Facilitates the inflow of capital into the industry by helping to quantify the risks associated with plant investment/operations to prospective investors. Alters the nature of a firm by digitizing and decomposing on-siteactivities (breaking down large jobs into several small jobs) that can be outsourced, off-shored and otherwise moved around. This changes the economics of plant location by impacting where various assets are deployed. Changes labor mobility by moving jobs to labor as well as labor to jobs. Alters the skill sets needed for plant management and labor. Further separates ownership from management and allows firms to transform themselves faster. Alters a firm's relationships to business and industry becauseit supports a contract-based industry structure that creates significant linkages/collaboration and enables coordination across enterprises, companies and specialties. Gives rise to the ethanol franchise and uses the standardization of that model to reduce uncertainty.
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