Definition: Supply Chain

Supply Chain and Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain refers to the logistics of a company. Supply Chain Management, also known as Supply Chain Management, is a part of this.

While logistics only involves stocks and their movements, its management completes it. Indeed, it gathers all the actions carried out by a company from the conception to the delivery of a product to an end customer. A good management implies a good collaboration between all the services concerned, whether they are internal or external (suppliers, service providers, warehouse stocks, packaging, transport, delivery).
It also allows for better management of flows and cost optimization.

History of the Supply Chain

The beginnings of the Supply Chain go back to the Industrial Revolutions, when companies tried to provide more and more for an ever increasing demand.

It was not until the end of the 20th century that a real change in logistics management was observed. Indeed, the demand decreases enormously and the industrialists pay more attention to the costs. In addition, there was a change in the consumption behavior of the general public. Logistics was then organized around input and output flows.

In the 90’s, it evolved further when suppliers and customers were involved in Supply Chain Management. Including them in the process allows to reinforce the competitiveness of the industrialists, because they are then in the center of the concerns of the company: it is necessary to be able to follow a supplier to play on its costs, just as it is necessary to establish a relation of confidence with the customer, to ensure its fidelity and its customer experience.

A good Supply Chain Management can only lead to success for a product and therefore for a brand.