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Solution

Supply Chain is the network of the people, companies, with active interchange of activities, information, and resources in transporting a product or service from supplier to customer. The movement of goods is from the start (upstream) to the end of the supply chain (downstream). It allows the balance of supply to demand of a particular good/service in a market.

There are several intermediaries in the supply chain which are listed below

1. Supplier or the provider of the goods or service or product. This is the origin of the raw material supply chain.

2. Manufacturers - producer of the goods. Often this involves a factory or an industrial production in case of a physical good or services.

3. Logistics provider or carrier of the products or goods to deliver from the original supplier to various distributors.

4. Wholesale Distributors who act as the intermediary between the supplier and the traders or stores who provide the product/goods at wholesales or competitive prices.

5. End consumer or the customer receiving the goods downstream.

For example, the supply chain for a biscuit manufacturer would be:

I) the farms (suppliers of wheat, flour, sugar)

II) manufacturing factory (where biscuits are produced)

III) logistics and 3PL to transfer finished goods to the distributors and their inventories

IV) retail stores, supermarkets who stock and sell the biscuit packets

V) end consumers who purchase the biscuits from the stores

In today’s interconnected world, there are several possibilities for supply chain networks to be global and distribute.Further the power of mobile and internet connectivity has disrupted the channels of supply chain communication, broken barriers of delays and inefficiencies and directly connected customers with suppliers.

Furthermore the actual product/service being designed determines the role and nature of the supply chain. In global manufacturing done by Fortune 500 companies, the supply chain can be spread across the world. For example the Dreamliner 787 was assembled in Washington DC with parts from subcontractors spread out globally in the supply chain.