Supply chain management

In the context of business, supply chain management (SCM) refers to the process of acquiring raw materials and other components, as well as managing operations (the process of ensuring the production of high-quality goods at high speed with good flexibility and low production cost), logistics, and marketing channels. This is done so that raw materials can be transformed into a finished product and delivered to the final consumer. A more specific definition of supply chain management is "the design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronising supply with demand, and measuring performance globally." This definition emphasises the importance of creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, and synchronising supply with demand. This may involve the transportation and storage of raw materials, inventory of work-in-process, and completed items, as well as the completion of orders from beginning to end, beginning at the place of origin and ending at the site of consumption. In a supply chain, the provision of items and services demanded by end consumers is accomplished via the collaboration of interconnected, interrelated, or interlinked networks, channels, and node firms.

Integrated, interdisciplinary, and multimethod approaches are what are aimed sought in supply chain management. The management of supply chains is greatly aided by marketing channels in their many forms. Current research in supply-chain management focuses, among other things, on issues relating to sustainability and risk management. The idea of supply chain resilience is an essential one that comes up in SCM conversations. Some individuals believe that the "people component" of supply chain management (SCM), ethical concerns, internal integration, transparency/visibility, and human capital/talent management are areas of study that have been underrepresented on the research agenda up to this point. SCM refers to the vast range of operations that are necessary to be planned, controlled, and carried out in order to organise and carry out the distribution of a product in the most cost-effective manner feasible. These processes are required to optimise the flow of materials, information, and capital.

In spite of the fact that it seeks to accomplish the same things as supply chain engineering, supply chain management takes a more conventional management and business-based approach, while supply chain engineering is predicated on the development of mathematical models to achieve its objectives.