The goal of good supply chain management is to keep inventories down while ensuring that the speed of flow of the product through the chain is optimized. Supply chain management is the whole vertical management of a product from the extraction of its raw materials to its sale to the consumer.

Supply chain management software (SCM) is used in the management of producing a product from raw materials through the various manufacturing and distribution processes until the product ends up in the hands of the consumer. Supply chain planning software helps organizations manage and replenish their inventory through sales and demand forecast

Supply Chain Management can be broken down into 3 main functions; product flow, information flow and financial flow.