During recent years, competitive pressures and short product lifecycles have caused many manufacturing and retail companies to focus on supply chain management practices and applications. Continuing shifts in the geopolitical situation and emerging markets have opened up new business opportunities, and at the same time kept companies busy revising their supply chain structures – manufacturing locations, warehouse locations, inbound logistics, and distribution operations. This has led to an increased demand in strategic supply chain planning tools, such as supply chain simulators and location optimization tools.

New techniques and practices for highly efficient supply chain management, made possible by the rapid progress in information and communication technologies, are explained in this book. It is written by supply chain researchers, consultants, and supply chain practitioners who have not only developed the practices but have deployed these practices in various supply chains at IBM and other companies.