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Part - III

Innovative and successful companies are moving beyond the traditional, linear supply chain. Instead, they are creating communities of networked supply chains in which suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and customers all collaborate.

What is Supply Chain?

A supply chain consists of all stages involved, directly or indirectly, in fulfilling a customer request. Within each organization, such as a manufacturer, the supply chain includes all functions involved in filling a customer request. These functions include, but are not limited to, new product development, marketing, operations, distribution, finance, and customer service.

A typical supply chain may involve a variety of stages. These supply chain stages are shown in Figure 1 and include the following: -

• Customers

• Retailers

• Wholesalers/distributors

• Manufacturers

• Component/Raw Material suppliers

Each stage in Figure 1 need not be present in a supply chain. The appropriate design of the supply chain will depend on both the customer’s needs and roles of the stages involved in filling of those needs.

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* Contributed by -
Amit Mishra,
PGP 19188,
Indian Institute Of Management, Lucknow.