Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,0, Otto Beisheim School of Management Vallendar (Kuehne Foundation Chair of Logistics and Services Management), course: Literature Seminar in Supply Chain Management, language: English, abstract: Today's business environment is unstable and uncertain. Shorter product life cycles, uncertain demand due to quickly changing customer needs, offshore production, higher supply chain complexity as a consequence of global and severe competition, and fast technological progress are all factors that foster this. "The economic environment is dynamic and the only certainty about it is it will continue to change." To cope with a high degree of uncertainty and increasing supply chain risk a company needs to establish a robust, resilient but still efficient supply chain. Due to the strong competition companies have to be responsive, introduce customized products quickly to the market and constantly work on their internal and external operations in order to gain a competitive advantage. They not only have to offer quality to gain customer satisfaction, but also speed and a reasonable price.