The supply chain management (Supply Chain Management) is a management system that integrates and coordinates the ways in which a company finds the raw materials and components needed to produce a product or service, and then delivers it to customers. Effective supply chain management can reduce inventory, transportation, storage, and packaging costs, while increasing customer satisfaction. (Longenecker and others)
Supply Chain Management (SCM) is defined as the systematic and strategic coordination of traditional business functions and tactics across these traditional functions within a particular company, and through companies that participate in the supply chain in order to improve the long-term performance of individual companies and the supply chain as a whole. (Ballou)
It is defined as the efforts of a company to improve efficiencies through each link in a company's supply chain, from supplier to customer. In the most general sense of the term, supply chain management includes all internal and external activities of the company required to fulfill the demand of its consumers. (Keat and Young)
It is the process to streamline the transit through the supply chain so that the company can satisfy its customers with quality products and services; focuses on developing closer relationships with suppliers. The supply chain is the complete sequence from the acquisition of inputs and the production of goods to the delivery of these to customers. (Gitman and McDaniel)
It is defined as the systematic and strategic coordination of traditional business functions within a particular company and throughout all those involved in the supply chain, with the purpose of improving the long-term performance of both each business unit and of the chain in global. (Mentzer and others)
The supply chain is a sequence of links (processes) whose main objective is to competitively satisfy the end customer; Likewise, each link produces and elaborates a part of the product and, in turn, each product that is elaborated adds value to the process. It can be inferred that if any process or link in the chain fails, the final product will not be delivered in ideal conditions to the customer, so it is necessary for the entire system to flow in harmony for the purpose to be carried out. Therefore, it is concluded that the supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The following figure presents the schematic of a supply chain. (Camacho and others)
Supply Chain. Source: Camacho and others
The following video from the University of Arizona, subtitled by ISCEA, explains in a simple way, in which we all understand, the concepts of Supply Chain Management and Supply Chain.
Bibliography
- Ballou, Ronald H., Logistics: Supply Chain Management. Pearson Education, 2004. Page 5 Camacho, Hernando and others, Importance of the supply chain in organizations. 10th Latin American and Caribbean Conference for Engineering and Technology. 2012. Pg. 3Gitman, Lawrence J. and McDaniel, Carl D., The Future of Business. Cengage Learning Editores, 2007. Page 394Keat, Paul G. and Young, Philip KY, Business Economics. Pearson Education, 2004. Page 361 Longenecker, Justin C. et al., Small Business Administration. Cengage Learning Editores, 2009. Page 387 Mentzer, John T. et al., Defining Supply Chain Management. Journal of Business Logistics, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2001. Page 18.
