L'information dans la chaîne logistique

The last decades have seen a tremendous growth of the supply chains in many aspects, which include: the volume that is moved throughout the chain, the international spanning of activities, the distance from nodes, and the increased velocity now required. These new complex and dynamic supply chains call for organizations to review some of their operational practices in order to achieve a better response in real time. In professional circles as well as in academia, there is a wide consensus that a collaborative approach to forecasting and production planning can significantly reduce shocks to the supply chain and improve overall cycle time. Hence, the next logical steps in these highly responsive supply chains, brought by this new environment, is the implementation of supply chain operation centers that operate 24-hours per day ensuring optimized decisions across the chain on a continuous and seamless basis. This article purports to synthesize the current complexity of the evolution of supply chains as well as the resultant need for real time information. It also proposes a conceptual model on how these operation centers can operate and the type of information flow required for efficient operations. Finally, this article traces the evolution of the supply chain from its early stages.