Supply chain management

Master supply chain management principles that optimize product flow, enhance efficiency, and improve business performance through integrated operations.
Sarah Dotson

What is supply chain management?

Supply chain management (SCM) is the comprehensive oversight and coordination of all activities involved in sourcing, procurement, conversion, and logistics. This integrated approach manages the flow of goods, services, and information from raw material suppliers through to the end customer.

Understanding supply chain management processes

Modern supply chain management integrates multiple business functions to create seamless operations. These processes coordinate activities across organizations while optimizing efficiency and value creation throughout the supply network.

Key supply chain components

Essential elements include:

  • Planning and forecasting
  • Sourcing and procurement
  • Manufacturing operations
  • Logistics management
  • Distribution networks

Supply chain management applications

Organizations implement SCM to:

  1. Reduce operational costs
  2. Improve service levels
  3. Optimize inventory
  4. Enhance visibility
  5. Increase efficiency

Supply chain implementation considerations

Successful management requires:

  • Strategic planning
  • Partner collaboration
  • Technology integration
  • Performance metrics
  • Continuous improvement

Supply chain operational impact

Effective SCM delivers improved efficiency, reduced costs, and enhanced customer satisfaction through coordinated supply chain operations.

Parabola FAQ

What is Parabola?
+

Parabola is an AI-powered workflow builder that makes it easy to organize and transform messy data from anywhere—even PDFs, emails, and spreadsheets—so your team can finally tackle the projects that used to feel impossible.

What does Parabola help with?
+

With Parabola, you can automate any process across spreadsheets, emails, PDFs, & siloed systems. Whether it’s reconciling data across systems or generating the same report every week, Parabola gives teams the power to automate it—all without IT support.

What does Parabola integrate with?
+

Parabola integrates with virtually any system. In addition to 50+ native integrations like NetSuite & Shopify, Parabola offers an API & the ability to integrate via email. Connect to thousands of tools—and work with unstructured data like emails and PDFs.

What are common Parabola use cases?
+

The best Parabola use cases are recurring processes that involve complex logic and messy data coming from multiple data sources. In practice, this could look like auditing invoice PDFs, generating recurring reports, or alerting the team of discrepancies.

Who are some of Parabola’s customers?
+

Teams at Brooklinen, On Running, Flexport, Vuori, and hundreds more use Parabola to automate the work they thought would always be manual. Explore more on our customer stories page.

How do I get started with Parabola?
+

The best way to get started is to sign up for a free account at parabola.io/signup. Our customers range from individuals to massive enterprises—so whether you'd like to start self-serve or with a guided product tour from an expert, we'll help you find the right package for your team.