 Dynamic sales volumes

 Product proliferation
 Emerging markets
 Customer expectations

Krawjeski et al.(2015) posit that these are the four external and internal pressures on supply
chain management as they pose challenges. For example, inability to forecast demand accurately
makes it extremely difficult to manage supply chains. This is because of fluctuations in demand
and supply caused by factors which are beyond the control of the firm in terms of external
uncontrollable factors often referred to as PESTEL factors, namely political, economic, social,
technological, environmental, and legal factors.

Dynamic sales volumes depend on many factors upstream, midstream and downstream.
Found Upstream are the raw material suppliers while midstream players are the manufacturers
such as Crayola, and downstream are the distributors and end-users. Sometimes, stocks pile up in
any of these sections and the other sections may not need them instantly, causing internal
pressures.

It is therefore important in supply chain management to have built-in shock-absorbers, buffer

stock, and to integrate through networking through mechanisms such as outsourcing, offshoring,
in-shoring, and drop-shipping options using nearby local hubs and clusters to meet sudden
demand for goods. There is therefore greater need for tight integration in the supply chain to put
everyone on the same page by integrating intranet, internet, and extranet (LAN and WAN)
systems using soft-wares such as Oracle and SAP. However, this may be