... in the form of products and services in the hands of the ultimate customer' (Christopher 1992). Information Flow (order, schedule, forecast etc.) Supplier Manufacturer Assembler Retailer Customer Materials Part Manufacturer Product Assembly Sales Use or Consumption Material Flow (supplies, production deliveries etc.) Figure 1: Generic configuration of a supply chain in manufacturing SCM looks across the entire supply chain (Figure 1), rather than just at the next entity or level, and aims to increase transparency and alignment of the supply chain's coordination and configuration, regardless of functional or corporate boundaries (Cooper and Ellram 1993). According to some authors (e.g., Cooper and Ellram 1993), the shift from traditional ways of managing the supply chain towards SCM includes various elements (Table 1). The traditional way of managing (Table 1) is essentially based on a conversion (or transformation) view on production, whereas SCM is based on a flow view of production. The conversion view suggests that each stage of production is controlled ...

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