Supply Chain Management

Effective supply chain integration enables firms to improve efficiency and effectiveness of their supply chain. An integrated supply chain can be defined as one which has achieved alignment of the members of the supply chain and their processes. In this chapter we discussed the process of achieving effective supply chain integration. We first discussed the nature of supply chain integration.

There are two types of supply chain integration-internal integration which aims at achieving the integration between functional areas, and external integration which aims at integrating the internal operations of the firm with that of its supply chain partners. Next we discussed the elements of a supply chain strategy - demand flow strategy, customer service strategy, technology integration strategy and collaboration strategy.

Later we examined the factors driving the supply chain integration - increasing customer satisfaction, the need to improve supply chain productivity, and the changing competitive environment. Then we examined a framework for developing and executing an integrated supply chain strategy.