Häufig gestellte Fragen
What is SCM (supply chain management) in simple terms?
Supply chain management (SCM), in German Lieferkettenmanagement, refers to the cross-company planning, control and monitoring of all material, information and financial flows along the supply chain – from the raw material supplier through in-house production to the end customer. The goal is to make the right product available in the right quantity at the right time in the right place without building up unnecessarily high inventories. SCM is first and foremost a management discipline and not a single piece of software; systems such as ERP modules or specialised planning tools merely support its implementation. A key success factor is transparency about demand and inventories across all stages, as a lack of visibility is considered one of the main causes of the so-called bullwhip effect.
What is the difference between SCM and ERP?
An ERP system maps a company's transactional processing – that is, orders, inventories, procurement, accounting and master data – and is generally focused on the company itself. SCM builds on this and complements the operational basis with overarching, often cross-company and multi-site planning, optimisation and scenario analysis of the entire supply chain. In practice the boundaries blur, because modern ERP platforms already include SCM-related functions such as demand planning or materials scheduling. Put simply: the ERP supplies the data and executes processes, while SCM uses that data for the medium- and long-term steering of the chain.
Which ERP modules belong to SCM?
The SCM environment typically includes demand and sales planning, materials management or material requirements planning (often based on MRP logic), production planning and control, warehouse management, and shipping and distribution. Added to this are supplier management and supplier evaluation (SRM) as part of procurement control. Large vendors often map these functions in dedicated modules or connected planning systems – for example SAP with MM, PP and the IBP planning solution. Practical relevance and implementation effort, however, depend heavily on the existing system landscape and the business processes to be mapped, so the specific module selection should be coordinated with the respective vendor.
What is the difference between SCM and logistics?
Logistics refers to the physical aspect of the supply chain, i.e. the transport, handling and storage of goods together with the associated information flow. SCM is much broader in scope and encompasses the entire strategic planning and control logic of the chain, including supplier management, demand forecasting, risk and capacity management and, increasingly, sustainability aspects. Put simply, logistics is thus a component of SCM and not its synonym. The exact demarcation varies in practice depending on industry and company organisation, which is why the terms are sometimes used loosely in everyday language.
Do I need separate SCM software in addition to the ERP?
In the mid-market, a standalone SCM suite is rarely strictly necessary, as many companies with a simple supply chain can adequately cover their planning needs with the scheduling functions of their ERP. The need for specialised SCM software increases with complexity, however: with multiple plants, international sourcing, short reaction times or high demands on demand forecasting and scenario planning. What matters are the actual process requirements as well as the quality of the master data and the ability to integrate the systems. Suitability cannot be judged across the board and always depends on the specific business model and the customising depth of the existing setup.
Which SCM software vendors are leading and what does an SCM suite cost?
The most frequently named vendors for supply chain planning include SAP (IBP), Blue Yonder, o9 Solutions and Kinaxis, which are listed as Leaders in the most recent Gartner Magic Quadrants for Supply Chain Planning Solutions; in addition, platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics, Infor and Oracle offer SCM-related functions. Reliable list prices are rarely public, as costs depend heavily on user numbers, module scope and contract model – cloud-based solutions are usually billed per user or per consumption. For mid-market projects including implementation, six-figure total costs are not uncommon, with licence fees typically accounting for only a smaller share while the larger portion goes to implementation, customising, training and data migration. Cloud models lower the initial investment but permanently shift costs into ongoing operating expenses.
What is the SCOR model in supply chain management?
The SCOR model (Supply Chain Operations Reference) is a cross-industry reference model for analysing, evaluating and optimising supply chains, originally developed by the Supply Chain Council and today maintained by ASCM (formerly APICS). It links business processes, metrics, best practices and skills in a uniform structure and classically divides the supply chain into the main processes Plan, Source, Make, Deliver, Return and Enable. Across several levels of detail, processes can be described in a standardised way and backed with metrics, which facilitates comparisons and benchmarking; the newer digital version (SCOR Digital Standard) has since evolved this process logic further. In practice, SCOR serves as a common language and diagnostic tool for identifying weaknesses in the chain and systematically unlocking improvement potential.
Which legal obligations apply to supply chains (German Supply Chain Act)?
In Germany, the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) obliges companies to observe human rights and environmental due diligence obligations in their supply chains; it has applied since 2023 to companies with 3,000 or more employees and since 2024 to those with 1,000 or more. Core obligations include effective risk management, regular risk analyses, preventive and remedial measures as well as a complaints procedure and corresponding documentation. At EU level there is also the CSDDD supply chain directive, whose transposition into national law has, however, been postponed by the so-called omnibus adjustments – as things stand, to a transposition deadline of mid-2028 and staggered application from 2029. The LkSG itself is also in flux: in 2025, among other things, the annual reporting obligation was abolished, while the actual due diligence and documentation obligations remain in place, which is why the current legal status should be checked before implementation decisions.