Comprehensive Research OrganizationWaseda University

The manufacturing industry is in the midst of a major change, facing more uncertain and complex problems than ever before. Companies are searching for new forms of supply chain management in order to respond to changes on the external frontier, such as the progress of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the development of globalization and rising protectionism, and the acceleration of social business. Looking at the situation in Japan, Gartner awards companies with excellent supply chains every year, but Japanese companies continue to not be ranked. It has been pointed out that the main reason for this is that management focused on the production fields, which delayed the use of information technology and the introduction of scientific decision-making methods. Additionally, Japan has become a society with a declining population ahead of other developed countries in the world, and there is an urgent need to respond to the logistics crisis. In response to these social demands, research on supply chain management must also solve new problems.