Supply Chain Management and Customer Service Management are not new phenomena – in fact, they have been around for a large number of years. In this time they have developed in to the model seen today, but the road has been a long and interesting one.

Supply Chain Management

The basic principle of supply chain management was first used in the early part of the 20th century, with the advent of the production line. The actual term “Supply Chain Management” wasn’t created, however, until the 1980s. The history and development of it can be categorized in to two basic categories – the growth of Supply Chain Management and the specialization of businesses in it.

Since the inception of the production line, SCM has come on in leaps and bounds. The most significant factor in the history, however, is the integration of SCM with new technology, most notably the internet. This made it far easier for outside companies to work within an existing structure and for them to be communicated and monitored in a cost effective way. Alongside the advent of new technologies came the idea of SCM being an important factor in businesses and the development of teams whose role is to work solely in this area. Although SCM had long been used, it was only during this period in the 1980s that dedicated personnel were hired.

Customer Service Management

Customer Service Management really came to prominence in the 1980s, with the advent of companies that had specific people to talk to different parts of their customer base. This reaped immediate benefits, as key clients could always have a good understanding with the person that they were dealing with. During the 1990s, CRM began to evolve, meaning that it wasn’t only the customer giving information to the company, but the company also giving incentives and bonuses to their more loyal customers.

In to the 2000s, CRM really jumped in to its current form, with all types of technology being used for its implementation – including, of course, the internet. With this invention, the scope for communicating with customers has been blown open.