ABSTRACT
Management of both logistics and the supply chain are undergoing radical change. Logistics links the factory to customers, and suppliers to production. The supply chain is also influenced by two internal developments. First is recognition of the need for integrated management. The second is the development of information technology and, in particular, supply chain management software that provides a new degree of control. The supply chain suffers from a confusion of meanings. Cooper, Lambert and Pagh provide one definition: 'Supply chain management is the integration of business processes from end user through original suppliers that provides services and information that adds value for customers'. The supply chain is also a system with performance attributes uniquely characteristic of the whole, called emergent properties, but which are not inherent within its component parts. The supply chain is a process innovation. As a behavioural system focused on delivering outputs to customers, the process transcends organizational boundaries.
