Figure 2 shows a relatively simple and generic supply chain that links a company with its suppliers upstream and its distributors and customers downstream. Upstream supply chain includes the organization’s first-tier suppliers and their suppliers. Such a relationship can be extended in several tiers all the way to the origin of material. Downstream supply chain includes all the processes involved in delivering the product or service to the final customers. Thus, there are physical flows in the form of raw materials, workin- process inventories, and finished products/ services, between supply chain echelons, from suppliers/vendors to manufacturers to distributors and retailers, and to consumers. Supply chain also includes the movement of information and money, and the procedures that support the movement of a product/service. Managing these physical and informational flows effectively and efficiently requires an integration approach that promotes organizational relationship and fosters the sharing of strategic and technological efforts.