What is Supply Chain Management?

Supply Chain Management (SCM) encompasses all the activities needed to provide goods and services in the economy. These include: operations planning, sourcing activities, production of goods and services, demand fulfillment and logistics, and the various customer support and return processes (such as retail returns, recycle and reconditioning). All successful organizations, whether they are for-profit, not-for-profit, governmental or public service rely to a great extent on supply chain management principles.