Welcome to SCM!

Hello and welcome to the exciting and challenging unit of Supply Chain Management. This is the business discipline of the information age and, along with Logistics, is the ‘contemporary unit’ in every sense. With the introduction of supply chain management in the curriculum, AMC’s Department of Maritime and Logistics Management joins the very selective group of high quality academic institutions which have made this vital unit a part of their undergraduate business program. I am quite certain that you will find the unit extremely interesting and rewarding. Supply chain management will expose you to contemporary business philosophies and will help you to develop an all encompassing perspective of everything you learned during the course of your studies at the AMC. Supply Chain Management has been described in a number of ways, including integrated logistics management and demand chain management. It is true that the unit of supply chain management is built on the foundation of logistics knowledge and it can be viewed as an extension of the logistics management concept. Having said this, it must be appreciated that the scope of supply chain management is much wider in context when compared to logistics management. We will leave the discussion about definitions and scopes of logistics and supply chain management for the moment as you will be dealing with these matters quite extensively during the course of your studies. As said earlier, supply chain management is considered an extremely important unit at present and no matter what your current job function is or future aspirations are, you are certain to benefit immensely from this modern and technology oriented discipline. It is recommended that you follow the very fine book which has been chosen as the text for this unit along with the recommended readings provided with the study guide. Each module in the study guide contains a number of activities. The activities are designed to engage you with important concepts and to build your understanding of relevant issues. It is expected that you would follow the directions contained in your study guide with regard to the readings and activities. Additionally, you should make good use of the internet to provide you with up to date information regarding SCM issues and trends. I sincerely hope that you find this unit interesting, stimulating and challenging, and I take this opportunity to wish you all the very best in your endeavour. Best regards Dr Vinh V. Thai