Supply chain

A supply chain is a complex <a href="/facts/Logistics/0Hr2w55W">logistics</a> system that consists of facilities that convert raw materials into <a href="/facts/Finished_product/y4ADzeJA">finished products</a> and distribute them to end consumers or end <a href="/facts/Customer/oGqcqmhf">customers</a>, while <a href="/facts/Supply_chain_management/3bEP00vC">supply chain management</a> deals with the flow of goods in distribution channels within the supply chain in the most efficient manner.
In sophisticated supply chain <a href="/facts/System/hmqQ4ASX">systems</a>, used products may re-enter the supply chain at any point where <a href="/facts/Residual_value/sIuozv5h">residual value</a> is recyclable. Supply chains link <a href="/facts/Value_chain/nIfCnfcA">value chains</a>. 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 <a href="/facts/The_Independent_(New_York_City)/90k7xlRd">The Independent</a> which briefly mentions the difficulty of "keeping a supply chain with India unbroken" during the <a href="/facts/British_expedition_to_Tibet/SpnudWrH">British expedition to Tibet</a>.

Supply chain open-in-new

Supply chain