As is evident from the name itself, supply chain management is all about managing. It is basically a logistics network. The planning and management of the activities which are involved in various stages such as sourcing, procuring, conversion and logistics management are all included in Supply Chain Management.

Supply chain transactions, managing Supplier relationship and controlling business processes associated with the projects are also a part of supply chain management. The main problems which the Supply Chain Management focuses on are as follows:

• Distribution Network Configuration
• Distribution Strategy
• Trade Offs in Logistical Activities
• Information
• Inventory Management
• Cash Flow

There is an obvious flow and movement of materials, data, information and funds across various supply chains. The system is responsible for modulating and controlling the flow which is bi-directional and seems to work on three main levels, namely:

• Strategic Level
• Tactical Level
• Operational Level

The strategic level involves the decisions such as where to make products, where to buy them from and deals with the products’ lifecycle. This also is responsible for product lifecycle management. The partnerships made with the suppliers, customers, clients and distributors are also strategically handled in this section. This is basically a long term operation and needs commitment of resources. Information technology chain operations are also dealt by the strategic level dealings.

The tactical level deals with the fetching and procuring of contract and decisions regarding purchases and related stuff. Decisions regarding productions, such as contracts, schedules and the planning of the process are dealt by the tactical level. Transportation strategies are decided here, including frequency, routes and contracting, and inventory decisions including all the decisions to be made about the inventory and the focus on customer demand and habits are also a part of the tactical level dealings.

The operational level deals with most of the operations that are carried out on a daily basis such as daily production and distribution planning, among all the nodes which are involved in the supply chain network. Each manufacturing facility has a process schedule. The operational level takes care of the issues. Sourcing planning, inbound operations, outbound operations, order promising, non- moving, short dated inventory, production operations etc are all covered under the operational level of Supply Chain Management.

The impacts and major movements seen in the Supply Chain Management over the evolution of the strategy can be listed as follows:

• Creation
• Integration
• Globalization
• Specialization : involves outsourced manufacturing and distribution
• Specialization : involves supply chain management as a service
• Supply Chain Management 2.0

There are a number of processes and functions which form the basis of the Supply Chain Management. They are:

• Customer Relationship Management
• Customer Service Management
• Demand Management Style
• Order Fulfilment
• Manufacturing Flow Management
• Supplier Relationship Management
• Product Development Management
• Returns Management

The Supply chain management basically consists of product flow, information flow and finances flow and is instrumental in keeping your organization functioning smoothly.