Supply chain

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A supply chain, logistics network, or supply network is a coordinated system of organizations, people, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service in physical or virtual manner from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities (aka value chains or life cycle processes) transform raw materials and components into a finished product that is delivered to the end customer. Supply chains link value chains.

There are a variety of supply chain models, which address both the upstream and downstream sides.

The primary objective of supply chain management is to fulfill customer demands through the most efficient use of resources, including distribution capacity, inventory and labor.

Several companies choose to outsource their supply chain management by partnering with a 3PL, Third-party logistics provider.

Most recently researchers have focused on other aspect of optimization as well as Blendin Problem, location/allocation, Vehicle Routing and even Dynamic programming besides traditional logistics optimization.

[edit] Literature

Rolf G. Poluha: Application of the SCOR Model in Supply Chain Management. Youngstown, NY 2006, ISBN: 1-934043-10-9.
Melo MT, Nickel S, Saldanha da Gama F. Dynamic multi-commodity capacitated facility location: a mathematical modeling framework for strategic supply chain planning. Computers and Operations Research 2006;33:181–208.