Role of supply chain management in the wise use of wood resources

One of the cornerstones of sustainable forestry is the wise use of wood resources to achieve maximum value or benefit for society, while not jeopardizing the future. At the same time forest companies must compete on an international scale, otherwise they themselves risk becoming non-sustainable. Supply chain management (SCM) is a business management approach which strives to achieve the wise use of inputs, while ensuring the health of a company in tough international competition, through breaking down barriers of communication and information flow within and between organizations and companies. In SCM the decision focus is the entire supply chain stretching from the raw materials, right through to final consumption. In this way sub-optimization of lower-level operations and processes does not put the overall objectives of the organization at risk or limit future opportunities. The concept of SCM is not new and is also known, for example, as logistical management, total system costing, holistic approach and total production management. The objectives of this paper are to outline what SCM is, show why SCM has emerged as an important field in wood procurement and finally give some examples of how a wider view of wood procurement can influence the wise use of wood resources. Southern African Forestry Journal No.191 2001: 89-9