| Supply Chain Management (SCM) was born out of a | | | | distribution of inventory and labor. Basically, a SCM |
| need to integrate processes, from end user through | | | | chain seeks to match demand with supply to |
| suppliers. Suppliers being the vendors that produce | | | | eliminate stoppages and balance lowest material cost |
| and/or provide materials, services, or information that | | | | and transportation, JIT (Just In Time) management is |
| add value to a project. The basic idea is that vendors | | | | an example of this. It maximizes manufacturing flow |
| and owners involve themselves in a SCM by | | | | and maintains the right mix of location of factories |
| communicating information on market changes and | | | | and warehouses serving specific markets. |
| supplies need on demand. | | | | The terms supply chain and logistics sometimes get |
| If all the project information is accessible to every | | | | used interchangeably but have different meanings. |
| stakeholder and vendor, the supply chain has the | | | | Logistics refer to the activities of one company's |
| ability to optimize the entire system. This can | | | | distribution system. SCM refers to a projects |
| streamline overall production and distribution thus | | | | procurement of products and services from multiple |
| cutting costs by way of economy of scale. The | | | | sources working together to make a project |
| development of SCM has lead to a new kind of | | | | successful. |
| competition where it is no longer between the | | | | Besides the two SCM's mentioned above, 2 more |
| companies but between supply chains. | | | | SCM's are; the American Productivity & Quality |
| SCM should provide for customer demands through | | | | Center's (APQC) Process Classification Framework, |
| the most efficient use of resources, including | | | | and the Supply Chain Best Practices Framework. |