Bulletin 105, Mai 99 

Guest editorial

Supply chain management deals with the management of materials and information across the entire supply chain, from suppliers to component producers to final assemblers to distribution and ultimately to the consumer.

The implementation of an efficient and effective supply chain is an important competitive factor. The key to success is through a close cooperation between all partners along the supply chain as each individual action influences the profitability of all other business partners. With the globalization of business in recent years, supply chain management has become very important in the order fulfillment process. The functions it encompasses have increased and its hierarchical position in the company organization has been raised.

The need to reduce the total cost of the supply chain, increase responsiveness, and improve service and reliability gives birth to a wide range of Operations Research problems. Despite the development of more and more efficient algorithms, few optimization tools have been applied to organizational decision-making situations in recent years. The difficulty to define a model that matches reality and its many unpredictable aspects is one reason. Another reason is that most of these developments are carried out at the academic level with no guarantee of a continuous follow up for the practitioners.

Supply chain management is one application area of Operations Research where the too famous gap between theory and practice should be reduced. The topic of the next SVOR/ASRO general assembly has been chosen consequently. Two managers who are active in distinct areas of the supply chain will expose their views on the subject, share their experience and present the difficulties and the challenges they have to face in a rapidly changing business environment. Operations Research needs to adapt to the real world and meetings like this one represent good opportunities to find out what are the actual needs of practice.

Daniel Costa, Nestec (Nestlé)
daniel.costa@nestle.com