Supply chain management (SCM) involves integrating all functions across an organization to efficiently meet customer needs. While SCM is a newer term, the concepts have existed for decades. Toyota practiced integration across quality, processes, and maintenance as early as 1945. In the 1980s, manufacturers started adopting a "pull" philosophy in response to customers demanding higher quality and lower costs. SCM emerged as a concept after enterprise resource planning systems allowed greater integration across organizational functions. So SCM principles were practiced before, but it is now recognized as an integrated approach to achieve excellence through collaboration across an organization.

1. Supply Chain Management Supply Chain Management - De-mystified - By : Atul Kumar SRIVASTAVA BE, DBM, PGDITM, APP & CPM Senior Purchasing Advisor – Oil & Gas Middle East, UAE Source : ISM, IIMM-MMR,

3. Supply Chain Management 2. Is it just something made popular by so called visionary experts, consultants or a few people to run their business or is it really significant for the industry ? 3. If it was existent earlier also, why so much emphasis now. Are role of functional experts roles are finished ?

4. Supply Chain Management SCM Philosophy : 1. SCM is network of networks. Seamless flow of activities for inbound & outbound logistics for materials, finances, information and services to meet highest order of customer satisfaction, keeping the pipeline lean & responsive.

5. Supply Chain Management 2. All the processes in entire spectrum from demand generation to demand satisfaction is SCM. 3. SCM extends from Supplier procuring his raw materials to the point of sale where the product is consumed.

10. Supply Chain Management 8. Since when the customers started rejecting their products, got choices and they showed their inclination to quality and cost, Manufacturers realized to follow Pull Philosophy, they started looking for all the ways, tools for the optimization of their functional processes and seamlessly integrate them to meet the customers expectation of low cost with high quality.

11. Supply Chain Management 9. Emergence & Fine tuning of SCM has come only after ERP (Enterprises Resource Planning). When ERP has become “must have” requirement.