Supply Chain
The network between a company and its suppliers to produce and distribute a specific product to the final buyer. Its brittleness and dependence on China are key concerns.
entitydetail.created_at
7/20/2025, 10:25:47 PM
entitydetail.last_updated
7/20/2025, 10:45:52 PM
entitydetail.research_retrieved
7/20/2025, 10:31:58 PM
Summary
A supply chain is a fundamental and complex logistics system that encompasses the entire process of transforming raw materials into finished products and distributing them to end consumers. It involves a sophisticated network of individuals and companies, including producers, manufacturers, vendors, warehouses, transportation companies, distribution centers, and retailers. Supply chain management (SCM) focuses on optimizing the efficient flow of goods, information, and capital throughout this network to enhance efficiency and reduce costs. Modern supply chains can also integrate used products for recycling. The term 'supply chain' may have first appeared in a 1905 article discussing the challenges of maintaining supply lines to India. More recently, global supply chains have been significantly impacted by policies such as tariffs, particularly those implemented by the Trump Administration against China, leading to consequences like ocean freight declines and the strategic use of bonded warehouses in locations such as Mexico to mitigate costs for major companies like Amazon.
Referenced in 1 Document
Research Data
Extracted Attributes
Scope
Often global in scale.
Purpose
To ensure the efficient flow of goods, information, and capital from raw materials to final delivery, optimizing production and distribution, and reducing costs and inefficiencies.
Components
Producers, manufacturers, vendors, warehouses, transportation companies, distribution centers, retailers, suppliers, and customers.
Definition
A complex logistics system that converts raw materials into finished products and distributes them to end consumers.
Key Feature
Used products can re-enter the chain for recycling where residual value is recyclable.
Supplier Categorization
Suppliers are often ranked by 'tier', with first-tier suppliers providing directly to the client, and subsequent tiers supplying to the preceding tier.
Timeline
- The term 'supply chain' may have been first published in an article in The Independent, discussing the difficulty of 'keeping a supply chain with India unbroken' during the British expedition to Tibet. (Source: Wikipedia, Summary)
1905
- Policies, such as tariffs implemented by the Trump Administration, severely impacted global supply chains, leading to consequences like ocean freight declines and the strategic use of bonded warehouses in locations like Mexico to mitigate costs for companies. (Source: Related Documents, Summary)
2017-2021
Wikipedia
View on WikipediaSupply chain
A supply chain is a complex logistics system that consists of facilities that convert raw materials into finished products and distribute them to end consumers or end customers, while supply chain management deals with the flow of goods in distribution channels within the supply chain in the most efficient manner. In sophisticated supply chain systems, used products may re-enter the supply chain at any point where residual value is recyclable. Supply chains link value chains. Suppliers in a supply chain are often ranked by "tier", with first-tier suppliers supplying directly to the client, second-tier suppliers supplying to the first tier, and so on. The phrase "supply chain" may have been first published in a 1905 article in The Independent which briefly mentions the difficulty of "keeping a supply chain with India unbroken" during the British expedition to Tibet.
Web Search Results
- The Supply Chain: From Raw Materials to Order Fulfillment
A supply chain is a network of individuals and companies that are involved in creating a product and delivering it to the consumer. Links on the chain begin with the producers of the raw materials and they end when the van delivers the finished product to the user. [...] A supply chain includes every step that's involved in getting a finished product or service to the customer. The steps may include sourcing raw materials, moving them to production, then transporting the finished products to a distribution center or retail store where they can be delivered to consumers. The entities involved in the supply chain include producers, vendors, warehouses, transportation companies, distribution centers, and retailers. [...] A supply chain is what lets you plug in your new television or bite down on that hamburger you’ve made at home. It’s a network made up of producers and manufacturers, vendors, warehouses, transportation companies, and retailers. The process begins when a product is created and it ends when you purchase it. Many supply chains are global in scale.
- Supply Chain - Overview, Importance, and Examples
# Supply Chain An entire system of producing and delivering a product or service, from sourcing the raw materials to the final delivery of the product or service to end users ## What is a Supply Chain? A supply chain is an entire system of producing and delivering a product or service, from the very beginning stage of sourcing the raw materials to the final delivery of the product or service to end-users. [...] The generic supply chain begins with the sourcing and extraction of raw materials. The raw materials are then taken by a logistics provider to a supplier, which acts as the wholesaler. The materials are taken to a manufacturer, or probably to various manufacturers that refine and process them into a finished product. [...] The supply chain lays out all aspects of the production process, including the activities involved at each stage, information that is being communicated, natural resources that are transformed into useful materials, human resources, and other components that go into the finished product or service. The words Supply Chain, along with related terms The words Supply Chain, along with related terms ### Why Should A Company Understand Its Supply Chain?
- Supply chain management - Wikipedia
Supply chain management is a cross-functional approach that includes managing the movement of raw materials into an organization, certain aspects of the internal processing of materials into finished goods, and the movement of finished goods out of the organization and toward the end consumer. As organizations strive to focus on core competencies and become more flexible, they reduce ownership of raw materials sources and distribution channels. These functions are increasingly being outsourced [...] In commerce, supply chain management (SCM) deals with a system of procurement (purchasing raw materials/components), operations management, logistics and marketing channels, through which raw materials can be developed into finished products and delivered to their end customers.( A more narrow definition of supply chain management is the "design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a competitive [...] SCM is the broad range of activities required to plan, control and execute a product's flow from materials to production to distribution in the most economical way possible. SCM encompasses the integrated planning and execution of processes required to optimize the flow of materials, information and capital in functions that broadly include demand planning, sourcing, production, inventory management and logistics—or storage and transportation.(
- Supply Chain Management (SCM): How It Works & Why It's Important
A supply chain starts with the ordering of raw materials or components from a supplier and ends with the delivery of a finished product or service to the end consumer. In supply chain management, every link in that chain may offer an opportunity to add value or reduce inefficiency. A well-run SCM program can increase a company's revenues, decrease its costs, and bolster its bottom line. Cision PR Newswire. "Walgreens Transforms Supply Chain Management with Kyvos, Tableau, and Big Data." [...] Typically, SCM attempts to centrally control or link the production, shipment, and distribution of a product. By managing the supply chain, companies can cut excess costs and needless steps and deliver products to the consumer faster. This is done by keeping tighter control of internal inventories, internal production, distribution, sales, and the inventories of company vendors. [...] Supply chain management (SCM) is the monitoring and optimization of the production and distribution of a company’s products and services. It seeks to improve and make more efficient all processes involved in turning raw materials and components into final products and getting them to the ultimate customer. Effective SCM can help streamline a company's activities to eliminate waste, maximize customer value, and gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. ### Key Takeaways
- What Is Supply Chain Management? - IBM
The global supply chain is a complex network of suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, wholesalers and customers. Effective SCM is about optimizing this network to ensure that everything gets where it needs to be, when it needs to be there—and as smoothly as possible. It includes obtaining the necessary components, manufacturing the product, storing it, transporting it and getting it to customers.
DBPedia
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Supply Chain, Clark County, Nevada, United States
Coordinates: 36.2144191, -115.3870755
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