In recent years, Supply Chain Management (SCM) has become one of the
most widely discussed issues on top management`s agenda. One essential
precondition for the implementation of SCM concepts are powerful
information systems. Many manufacturing companies deploy the logistics
modules of the SAP R/3 system. In 1997 SAP enlarged its focus beyond
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and started an SCM
initiative, which resulted in the Advanced Planner and Optimizer (APO)
system. Today, APO has become one of the main components of the
mySAP.com solutions. This book describes the principles and methods of
intra- and inter-company SCM with reference to Release 4.6 of the SAP
R/3 and to Release 3.0 of the SAP APO system. It also discusses
potential future developments of these widely used software systems. The
final chapter of the book contains an annotated overview of the most
valuable online resources dealing with SCM.