The manufacturing industry has been struggling to deal with difficult issues of achieving high customer satisfaction while maintaining cost competitiveness. As companies are preparing to make their mark globally, the need to improve supply chain efficiency is being given high priority. In future, competition shall no longer takes place between individual businesses, but between entire supply chains. The crux is in overall optimization of the value chain by aligning business strategy with the supply chain strategy. This book presents a spectrum of issues on existing supply chain systems including quality and information technology. A sizable portion of the book covers empirical assessment of contemporary supply chain practices and brings out some significant enablers of performance. The focus is on enhancing competitive potential through supply chain management practices. The book covers conceptual as well as application oriented topics. Thus, the articles are eminently suited andshould appeal to industry practitioners, research scholars and students of supply chain management.