ABSTRACT
Organizations in the twenty-£rst century have shown increasing interest in ef£cient supply chain management to achieve competitive advantage in the global marketplace. This is due to the rising cost of manufacturing and transportation, the globalization of market economies, and the ever-increasing demand for diverse products of short life cycles. A supply chain is typically characterized by a forward ¡ow of materials and a backward ¡ow of information. Ef£cient supply chain management can lead to lower production cost, inventory cost, and transportation cost and improved customer service throughout all stages involved in the chain (Sarimveis et al., 2008).
