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supply chain management

supply chain management (SCM) is the control of the supply chain as a process from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer. Supply chain management does not involve only the movement of a physical product (such as a microchip) through the chain but also any data that goes along with the product (such as order status information, payment schedules, and ownership titles) and the actual entities that handle the product from stage to stage of the supply chain.

There are essentially three goals of SCM: to reduce inventory, to increase the speed of transactions with real-time data exchange, and to increase revenue by satisfying customer demands more efficiently.

In computing, SCM typically is used in reference to software applications that enable more efficient management of the supply chain.



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