MSc in Management - Supply Chain, Middle Tennessee State University

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is simply the Management of the chain of supplies from suppliers to customers. SCM activities includes planning, sourcing, making, delivering and returning. Everything you wear, eat or drink, sit on or in, read, throw, shoot, kick, and buy or sell comes to you courtesy of supply chains.Goods are produced for consumers. But how do those goods become finished products and get to where they need to go? Supply chain management masterminds the flow of goods. Raw materials must be stored and catalogued, transformed into usable inventory, and, once finished and given the stamp of approval, must be moved from the point of origin to the point of consumption. The movement of goods is a skillfully designed labyrinth of interlinking networks, channels, and connecting points, with the customer situated at the end of that supply chain. The goal is to satisfy customer demand and optimize the number of organizations in satisfying that demand, while reducing managerial control of daily logistics operations. Less control and more supply-chain partners led to the original concept of supply chain management. The consumer expects dependable and efficient service and assumes the product will arrive in good time and in perfect condition. The manager of the supply chain must ensure that the journey from product inception to customer reception runs without a hitch.