Industrial gas plants have been in operation for over 100 years. The industrial gas business is extremely energy intensive - several billion dollars are spent annually to operate these plants. Today, more than ever, it's critical to operate these plants in a way that minimizes their electricity and natural gas consumption. Over the past 20 years, tremendous strides have been made towards the goal of the smart plant, including such things as automated start-up and shutdown, real time customer demand tracking, and the optimization of several plants within a network. However, there is still much to accomplish. This paper will review past achievements and future needs for the industrial gas industry and, more importantly, address the concept of the Smart Supply Chain - a tightly integrated network of energy suppliers, industrial gas suppliers and end customers.