Fundamentals Of Supply Chain Management Online

Managing warehousing and coordinating the physical transport of products.

To optimize these flows, managers must manipulate the "Five Drivers" of supply chain performance: Production, Inventory, Location, Transportation, and Information. These drivers act as the levers by which an organization achieves its strategic goals.

The supply chain management process typically involves the following steps:

This involves choosing the suppliers that will deliver the goods and services needed to create the product. Key activities include:

Recent global disruptions, from the COVID-19 pandemic to geopolitical conflicts, have exposed the vulnerabilities of "Just-in-Time" manufacturing, where companies keep minimal inventory to save costs. Consequently, the fundamentals of SCM now include a heavy emphasis on risk management. Modern supply chains are shifting toward resilience, often adopting "Just-in-Case" strategies, where companies diversify their supplier base and hold safety stock to buffer against global shocks.

: Establishing the groundwork by forecasting demand, analyzing market trends, and determining production levels to minimize waste.