___________ encompasses all the activities required to get the right product into the right consumers hands in the right quantity at the right time and at the right cost, from acquisition of raw materials through customer delivery.

To complement the definition, supply chain management (SCM) tracks materials, information and finances during the process that goes from the supplier to the manufacturer, the wholesaler, the retailer, and the consumer. Supply chain management involves the coordination and integration of these flows, both within the same company and between different companies. It is said that the main objective of any effective supply chain management system is the reduction of inventories (assuming that the products are available when necessary). To offer optimal supply chain management solutions, there are currently sophisticated software systems with Web interfaces competing with Web-based application service providers (ASP) that are committed to providing part or all of the SCM service to Companies that hire their services.

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