The technology of transportation, communication, shipping, and delivery is, of course, far more advanced and integrated in industrialized nations than in developing countries. This especially affects supply chain management, or SCM. Developing nations, for instance, are typically less sophisticated in areas of software, so tracking the status of products moving through the supply chain is difficult or impossible. Communications—for example, electronic data exchanges between trucking companies and shippers—are also problematical. Third-party logistics services, which are critical for efficiently managing supply chains in the West, are often poorly developed in emerging nations.