Effective management of the total supply chain is an essential ingredient for business success as the global market place becomes a reality. Organizations continuously seek to provide their products and services to customers faster, better and cheaper than the competition. Managers, therefore, have come to realize that they need to improve their logistics.
Organizations are now taking a broad "systems" view of the entire supply chain required to design, produce, and to deliver their products and services. Businesses are working more closely with both their suppliers and customers to improve the entire value chain.
This represents a major change for many organizations. By creating information visibility through the innovative use of information technology , developing collaboration and trust among supply chain member organizations, and integrating and improving supply chain process performance, organizations can transform their supply chains into high-performing value systems. These value systems provide a real competitive advantage in the market place.