Logistics is gaining day by day more attention in the business world and in the fields of interest of policy makers. Even so the same people who use this term frequently declare that the concept of logistics is not completely clear to them. The aim of the paper is to clarify this concept, focusing on supply chain management, a new approach that has been developed in recent years. After a brief introduction, the steps of logistics evolution are presented in section two, as well as the definition of logistics system in the integrated logistics and the objectives of this system. Then, the supply chain management approach is explained, underlining where it differs from the previous approach of integrated logistics. Its structure is shown with the aid of a diagram. In the last part of the paper the driving forces behind a faster implementation of supply chain management are identified.
