The following is a functional breakdown of Supply Chain Management and can be used to find ideas for research topics.
A. Product Lifecycle Management
- Request for Information
- Collaborative Design
- Product Portfolio Management
- New Product Introduction
- Outsources Design Services
- Product Data Management
- Design for Sustainability
B. Order/Demand Management
- Supply Chain Coordination & Event Management
- Supply Chain & Production Planning
- Outsources Manufacturing
- Quote-to-Order Automation
- Demand Planning / Forecasting
- Capacity Planning
- Promotional Planning
- Order & Demand Management
- Supply & Demand Chain Network Design
- eRFI / eRFP
C. Sourcing
- Trading Exchanges (Public & Private)
- Sustainable/"Green" Supply Management
- Commodity Team & Supplier Collaboration
- Spend Analytics, Product Cost Management & Supply Strategy
- Content Management
- Outsourced Manufacturing
- Auctions
D. Procurement
- Marketplaces
- Employee Business Services Management
- Purchase Order & Requisition Management
- Sustainable/"Green" Supply Management
- Content Management
- Supplier Relationship Management & Supplier Development
- Supplier Performance Measurement & Monitoring
- Contingent & Temp Labor Services Management
- Supplier Enablement
- Group Purchasing Organizations/Solutions
- Product Cost Management
- Supplier Risk Management
E. Fulfillment / Logistics
- Order Management Inputs (from Order/Demand Management)
- Outsourcing Services
- Reverse Logistics
- Customized Build/Assemble
- Inventory Management & Optimization
- Transportation Management & Optimization
- Warehouse Management Services/Systems
- Distribution Planning / Distribution Requirements Planning
- Route Accounting / Management & Direct Store Delivery Solutions / Order & Delivery Management
- Simultaneous Outbound and Inbound Management
- Global Trade management
- Supply Chain Event Management
- Manufacturing Execution Systems
- Logistics Resource Management
- Service Parts Logistics and Service Supply Chain Planning
- Vendor-Managed Inventory (VMI)
- Supply Chain Execution
- Material Handling Equipment & Services
- Supply Chain Security
F. Payment
- Financial Transaction Management (All Req-to-Check Processes)
- e-Credit
- e-Money
- Electronic Funds Transfer & All Forms of e-Payment
- Electronic Bill Presentment, e-Invoicing
- Spend Data Management
- Purchasing Cards
- Collaborative Cash Flow Management
- Financial Supply Chain Management
- Freight Audit & Payment Services
G. Decision Support
- Business Process & Performance Management
- Revenue, Price & Profit Management Automation
- Inter-Enterprise & Cross-Functional Collaborative
- Change Management
- Staffing & Incentive Management
- Supply Chain Skills Management & Education; Professional Development
- Research, Advisory & Consulting
- Information Sharing & Analysis (Knowledge Management / Enterprise Business Intelligence)
- Six Sigma, Quality & Lean Six Sigma
- Regulatory & Customer Mandate Compliance
- Governance Issues
- Supply Chain Risk Management
- Supply Chain Relationship Management
H. Customer Relationship Management
- Field Service & Service Parts Logistics
- Warranty Chain Management
- Contest Management
- Sales Force Automation
- Trade Promotion Management
- Channel Management & Customer Analytics
- Reverse Logistics / Material and/or Merchandise Returns
- Mobile Sales Solutions
I. Supply Chain Integration & Technology Infrastructure
- Network Infrastructure Enterprise Data management & Data Synchronization
- Regulatory & Customer Mandate Compliance, Government Issues
- B2B Connectivity Standards and Integration Planning
- Automatic Identification & Data Capture (RFID)
- Enterprise Asset Management (EAM)
- Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
- Enterprise Application Integration (EAI)
- Security
- Hardware Options
- Contingency Planning
- Wireless Applications and Devices
- Internal/External Portals
- On-Demand, Hosted Applications
- Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)