Supply chain management is quickly becoming one of the most important and highly valued disciplines in the business world. As intense competitive pressure pushes organizations to find new ways to reduce costs while delivering their products and services faster than ever before, supply chain management expertise becomes increasingly critical.
The supply chain is the pathway that all goods and services must follow to reach the customer—starting with the source of a company's raw materials, proceeding through the firm's internal production and distribution processes, and ending with delivery to the customer. Supply chain professionals are responsible for managing the flow of goods, services and information along that pathway.
Additionally, supply chain management is the only discipline that is responsible for integrating the activities of all other business functions along the supply pathway. Traditionally, marketing, distribution, planning, manufacturing and purchasing departments operated independently – each with their own objectives that often conflict. Supply chain professionals enable companies to increase efficiency by helping these business functions achieve shared goals.
The supply chain encompasses every
effort involved in producing and delivering a
product or service, from the supplier's supplier
to the customer’s customer. Supply chain
management includes managing supply and demand,
sourcing raw materials and parts, manufacturing
and assembly, warehousing and inventory tracking,
order entry and order management, distribution
across all channels and delivery to the customer.
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