What is a firm's supply chain? What are the primary techniques a supply chain management (SCM) system relies on? How do these approaches offer the chance to increase operational excellence?

1) A firm's supply chain is a network of organizations and business processes for procuring raw materials, transforming these materials into intermediate and finished products, and distributing the finished products to customers.

2) The first one of the primary techniques which a supply chain management system relies on is the supply chain planning systems, which enable the firm to model its existing supply chain, generate demand forecasts for products, and develop optimal sourcing and manufacturing plans.

The other one is supply chain execution systems which manage the flow of products through distribution centers and warehouses to ensure that products are delivered to the right locations in the most efficient manner.

3) These systems help companies make better decisions such as determining how much of a specific product to manufacture in a given time period; establishing inventory levels for raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods; determining where to store finished goods; and identifying the transportation mode to use for product delivery.