ABSTRACT
The early 20th century witnessed the rise of Ford Motor Company, which streamlined both its assembly line process and standard four-wheeler design to develop a highly efficient supply chain with mass-scale production systems. However, there was no variety on offer since the only colour available was black and there was a single design. This, however, evolved to witness the rise of players like Toyota, which brought about lean and agile manufacturing systems and offered significant variety to incorporate customer choices. Along with this came the rise of computing power and quality management tools to develop efficient production systems. However, by the late 20th century, firms had utilized manufacturing improvements and begun to look beyond their own company boundaries. Supported by technology advancements and understanding that firm performance can be enhanced by collaborating with suppliers, vendors, and retailers, this gave rise to supply chain management. 1 With the Internet boom and spread of globalization, supply chains became critical to a firm’s success as organizations depended on how well they managed their supply chains. How have supply chains evolved to assume such strategic importance? Why is effective supply chain management crucial for success?
