SCM -- The complex chain

As it can be seen from the adjoining diagram that the SCM as a chain of activities is complex and comprises of the actvities interrelated and interconnected to each other.

If we were to define the history of the supply chain, we can divide it into three different era's
1) 1970's - 1980's
2) 1980's - 1990's
3) 1990's - Now

1970's to 1980's: this era is mjorly dedicated to the MArketing activiies the focus was majorly on the customer loyalty and the product's quality, companies tried to focus on product re engineering & transforming the old manufacturing ways into new ones. The Supply Chain in this time was majorly confined to the local markets, it was highly regulated and was not managed beyond the exte nded enterprises, it was rigid, slow but predictable.

"The essence of SCM understood. This first phase is characterized as an inventory 'push' era that focused primarily on physical distribution of finished goods."

1980's - 1990's The markets in this era were highly vulnerable, they demanded variety, cost was the king and and global markets had started to develop. Companies started to learn about managing the global supply & demands. Realization that productivity could be increased significantly by managing relationships, information and material flow across enterprise borders

1990's - Now The Markets
Throw away consumerism – product life measured at blink speed
Cost is still king, but manufacturing has nothing left to give
Global competition
Global markets

The Supply Chain
Technologically enabled
Services explosion
The network is the enterprise
Dynamic, agile and reconfigurable
Supply Chain as a strategic imperative

Computers change the way business is done, Internet revolutionized the information pathway and the distribution system of the business, e-commerce has changed the definition of business itself.