Supply chain management

Abstract

There is a great deal of confusion regarding what supply chain management involves [1].In fact, many people using the name supply chain management treat it as a synonym for logistics or as logistics that includes customers and suppliers [2].Others view supply chain management as the new name for purchasing or operations [3], or the combination of purchasing, operations and logistics.However, successful supply chain management requires cross-functional integration within the firm and across the network of firms that comprise the supply chain. The challenge is to determine how to successfully accomplish this integration.