From Logistics to Supply Chain Management

Logistics has evolved over the last few decades from a purely operational function to a crucial strategic component for companies. Supply chain management has also developed alongside logistics, initially as an integrated approach to logistics management and then as a business philosophy that directs the productive efforts of the entire system of firms. Gradually, the concept of supply chain has expanded beyond the boundaries of a single company to encompass a sequence of linked entities. The essential challenges facing the supply chain are reconfiguration, integration, and optimization of the whole logistics network, changes in the location of its components, transport planning, inventory management, and…