Supply chain
From Freepedia
Supply chain, logistics network, or supply network, consists of all suppliers, manufacturing facilities, distribution centers, warehouses, and customers, as well as all raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods, and all related information and resources involved in satisfying end-customer's requirements.
A more specific definition:
Supply chain is a business process that links suppliers, manufacturers, warehousing, logistics, retailers and the end customer in the form of a linear integrated skill and resource pool with the aggregated goal of delivering a product or service. It encompasses all activities and the flow of information both upstream and downstream the chain and is associated with the transformation of a product from raw materials through to a finished product.
Traditionally, the activities involved in managing the supply chain for optimal performance were collectively known as Supply chain management. More recently, reflecting the increasing amount of collaboration between the actors involved, some industry observers now collectively refer to these activities as supply network operations.
Typically in the context of an enterprise, the supply chain is considered to begin at the supplier's suppliers and to extend up the value chain to customer's customers.
The supply chain is often described by the costs involved in each component:
- Suppliers / material costs
- Transportation / transportation costs
- Manufacturing facilities / manufacturing costs
- Warehouses and Distribution Centers / inventory costs
- Customers / revenue
Related articles
- Supply network
- Supply chain management
- distribution
- logistics
- marketing
- manufacturing
- trade item
- transport
- APICS
External links
Categories: Commercial item transport and distribution | Distribution, retailing, and wholesaling | Supply chain management | Production and manufacturing | Management
