What exactly is supply chain management and why is it so important ?
SCM is managing the flow of goods, services and information, all the way (two-way) from suppliers of suppliers, to suppliers, to manufacturers, to wholesalers, to distributors, to stores, to consumers and to end-users. The complexity and the cost of supply chains have significantly and continuously increased in the past two decades. At the same time, companies have realized that their customers’ satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) was linked to the performance of their supply chain. On the other hand, different companies’ (and industry-wide) initiatives have shown the tremendous benefits of just-in-time, zero-stock, total quality, category management, ECR,… just to name a few steps into the business integration potential. SCM is both a source of competitive advantages, and a lever for profit margin. If you are not good at SCM, somebody else will be.
