The paper presents the results of research on materials management and, in particular, on the supply of manufacturing companies. The research was conducted using an original survey questionnaire and covered companies operating in Poland. The issues examined included: assessment of the impact of effective cooperation with suppliers, estimated number of suppliers and the share of costs of raw materials and supply materials in the total costs of operations; competences of companies in the scope of: shaping relations with suppliers and capital links with them, analysis and assessment of supply risk, preparation for disruptions and irregularities in supplies, involvement of suppliers in the decision-making process in supply chains, application of selected concepts used in relations with suppliers and criteria for assessing strategic suppliers. Also taken into account were elements of risk in relations with suppliers, methods of its reduction and factors influencing failures in the implementation of tasks related to material supply. The research conducted was aimed at identifying and assessing the implementation of supply-related tasks in manufacturing enterprises in Poland.

An ambiguous approach to the perception of logistics management and supply chain management and their mutual relations raises a number of theoretical discussions. This is also reflected in business practice, but in this case it may be related to the inability to use the potential offered by the implementation of the supply chain management concept. Shaping the competitive ability of enterprises on the market is primarily associated with the identification of such areas where there is a potential to increase the efficiency of operations. The paper presents the results of surveys carried out in Polish enterprises regarding the perception of the role of logistics and its relationship with supply chain management in creating and increasing value.