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Preface to the First Edition
Supply chains affect individuals and organizations, both directly and indirectly. Supply
chain is a term found daily in both trade and academic publications. Whether you are
a customer or a supplier, you depend on supply chains for your necessities and luxury
goods, as well as various other services. Why are supply chains so pervasive in our every-
day lives?
In his book, The World Is Flat, A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Friedman
listed supply chaining as one of the ten flatteners that would make the world more com-
petitive on a global scale. Supply chains are the mechanisms by which products ...