Logistics and Supply Chain Management, 4th Edition

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In the relatively short time that companies have been focusing on managing

supply chains, the world has changed dramatically. Over the last three decades

or so since the phrase ‘supply chain management’ was first coined

1

we have wit-

nessed a major trend to globalised supply chains, with activities that were once

performed in-house now outsourced, accompanied by a dramatic increase in vola-

tility in the business environment creating ever higher levels of uncertainty in both

demand and supply.

There can be little doubt that these changes are only the precursor for the ever

more seismic changes that potentially lie ahead.