Supply chain management software (SCMS) is a business term which refers to a range of software tools or modules used in executing supply chain transactions, managing supplier relationships and controlling associated business processes.

While functionality in such systems can often be broad – it commonly includes:

1. Customer requirement processing
2. Purchase order processing
3. Inventory management
4. Goods receipt and Warehouse management
5. Supplier Management/Sourcing

A requirement of many SCMS often includes forecasting. Such tools often attempt to balance the disparity between supply and demand by improving business processes and using algorithms and consumption analysis to better plan future needs^[1]. SCMS also often includes integration technology that allows organizations to trade electronically with supply chain partners. ^[2]

Dedicated Supply Chain Tools vs ERP Systems

While many organizations utilize Plant Simulation (PS) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions to satisfy supply chain needs, many supply chain management software solutions are available as stand alone tools. SCMS can be differentiated from ERP solutions as they don’t include the breadth of functionality of a full ERP (for example SCMS may not include HR or manufacturing modules.) Stand alone systems include inventory optimization tools, sourcing tools, supplier relationship management and spend analysis systems which can be used either independently or integrated with ERP solutions.

Businesses can benefit from SCMS and ERP systems by cutting the cost, streamlining operations, forecasting sales and profit and defining the right processes and people. This type of software product can facilitate more efficient management and can contribute to more reliable and predictable business operations.

The other major difference between SCMS and ERP systems is the flexibility and high-level of customization of ERP software. The same ERP software can be used in many different companies by customizing the product to match the particular business process.

There are a significant number of providers that have offered SCMS and ERP software for many years. You can categorize the software providers by many different parameters. For instance, this is a simple classification of ERP software by the software price and the customer size based on the number of employees:

Software Providers for Large Corporations (more than 1000 employees) – sample

E-Business Suite
Peoplesoft
SAP
TradeBeam

Software Providers for Small and Medium-Size businesses (from 10 to 1000 employees) – sample

Epicor Software
Microsoft Dynamics

See also

• Inventory
• Inventory control system
• Inventory management software
• Warehouse management system
• Operations management

References

External links

• Supplychain management software survey