Supply chain management (SCM) refers to the processes of creating and fulfilling demands for goods and services. It encompasses a trading partner community engaged in the common goal of satisfying end customers.

Supply chain segmentation involves designing and operating distinctly different end-to-end value chains (from customers to suppliers) optimized by a combination of unique customer value, product attribute, manufacturing and supply capabilities, and business value considerations. In essence, supply chain segmentation is the dynamic alignment of customer channel demands and supply response capabilities optimized for net profitability across each segment.

Gartner’s Supply Chain Architecture Life Cycle is the process of managing the entire life cycle of each capability within your supply chain. For each supply chain capability, the life cycle includes inception; design and launch (physical, financial and digital); use for delivery of customer perfect orders; tracking of performance; refinement; and, ultimately, retirement of the processes, structures and governance related to that capability. It provides a standard for development and deployment of a strategy into operation.

Demand-driven value network (DDVN) is a business environment holistically designed to maximize value of and optimize risk across the set of extended supply chain processes and technologies that senses and orchestrates demand based on a near-zero-latency demand signal across multiple networks of corporate stakeholders and trading partners.