This centralisation does go against many modern management principles with the argument being that decisions should be made closest to the event. In this way, inventory decisions should be made within national or regional boundaries. This has led to the development of many logistic information systems which allow for central control but gives flexibility to local mangers to meet local conditions in theory the best of both worlds An example of this is Supply Chain Event Management (SCEM).

Despite the concept of globalisation, many markets remain local and influenced by cultural ideas meaning that all companies must consider its local markets and adopt the correct strategies in order to meet these requirements. This can be done by postponement.

Supply chain operations span across many countries boundaries due to organisations taking advantage of these global factors.

Four key factors have influenced the pace of:

• Information and communication technology advances
• Reliable transportation systems
• The reduction of trade laws
• Differences in labour costs between countries.