Supply Chain Management

All over the world, organizations are under pressure to reduce product development times, improve product quality and reduce production lead-times and costs. However, companies trying to improve the efficiency of their internal processes by adopting new business practices like total quality management and just in time manufacturing have realized that isolated improvements in individual organizations are not enough to achieve their objectives.

They have recognized the need for better coordination with upstream firms that supply inputs and the network of downstream firms responsible for the distribution of their products to consumers. This has resulted in the emergence of the concept of supply chain management (SCM). Today, firms compete not only on their end-products or services, but also on the strength of their supply chains.

They have discovered that they can differentiate their product offerings and provide better value to their customers only when they make improvements in all the supply chain processes.