TRAILBLAZER
Dr Wolfgang Partsch
The Austrian physicist who is the father of modern supply chain management
In the late 1970s , physicist Dr Wolfgang Partsch used science as the basis for his revolutionary concept of supply chain management
In the November issue of Supply Chain we featured British logistician and business consultant , Keith Oliver , as our ‘ trailblazer ’, and presented him as the person who coined the term ‘ supply chain ’. On publication , the article generated strong interest online , especially on LinkedIn . Many people commented on the piece , with most saying the same thing : Keith Oliver may have been responsible for introducing the term ‘ supply chain ’ into popular culture , but he was not the one who gave it to the world . That honour , we were told , should go to Wolfgang Partsch , whose LinkedIn profile describes him as the ‘ Inventor of Supply
Chain Management ’. Following feedback on LinkedIn we amended the Keith Oliver article , adding the following paragraph : “ It should be pointed out that Oliver was part of a team that created the concept of ' supply chain management '. The first project the team was involved in ran from 1980-82 in Switzerland , under the management of business analyst Wolfgang Partsch . The term first appeared in print in 1982 , in the German business magazine , Wirtschaftswoche .”