title: Is the customer always right?
abstract: This article begins with a brief review of the early days of production and inventory control (where it started), describes the present state of the art (what it is like today), and ends with a forecast of what the future looks like (where it is going). Recognizing the importance of the customer today, it focuses on the changes in supplier-customer relations in the past as well as those to come.
authors.affiliation: G.W. Plossl & Co., Inc., Ft. Myers, FL, USA.
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Plossl
mesh_terms: D003258:Consumer Behavior; D003284:Contract Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D004864:Equipment and Supplies / Q000592:standards* / Q000600:supply & distribution; D007221:Industry / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D008421:Materials Management, Hospital; D010934:Planning Techniques; D014481:United States