internal business case for participating in particular supply chains and decide, in conformance with formal supply chain agreements and the needs of the chain, the extent to which they will integrate with their customers and suppliers.

Recommendation. Small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises should use benchmarks and metrics to monitor supply chain performance. Metrics and incentives or penalties should be carefully aligned to encourage optimal supply chain performance. However, because collecting, reporting, and analyzing data is expensive, supply chain participants should select only the metrics required to meet their needs, monitor and analyze the data carefully, and, most importantly, follow through with appropriate action to improve performance.