Supply Chain Management

chain management (SCM) is the oversight of products (primarily), services (sometimes) or results (least often) as they transition from producer (developer) to retailer (middle-person) to consumer (end-user). SCM has a close relationship to project management because projects frequently involve SCM.

The key supply chain processes are:
  • Customer service/technical support management
  • Customer/end user relationship management
  • Sales and operations planning management
  • Distributor/retailer management
  • Supplier/vendor management
  • Transportation/shipping management
  • Returns/recycling management
  • Inventory/warehouse Management
  • Labeling/packing management
  • Procurement/forecasting management
Value stream mapping is a lean manufacturing technique used to evaluate process flows from start to finish.