supply chain

noun

plural supply chains

: the chain of processes, businesses, etc. by which a commodity is produced and distributed : the companies, materials, and systems involved in manufacturing and delivering goods

The pandemic has disrupted nearly every aspect of the global supply chain—that's the usually invisible pathway of manufacturing, transportation and logistics that gets goods from where they are manufactured, mined or grown to where they are going. At the end of the chain is another company or a consumer who has paid for the finished product.

—Peter S. Goodman

Everyday life in the United States is acutely dependent on the perpetual motion of the supply chain, in which food and medicine and furniture and clothing all compete for many of the same logistical resources. … [W]hen a finite supply of packaging can't keep up with demand, when there aren't enough longshoremen or truck drivers or postal workers, when a container ship gets wedged sideways in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes—the effects ripple outward for weeks or months, emptying shelves and raising prices in ways that can seem random. All of a sudden, you can't buy kettlebells or canned seltzer.

—Amanda Mull

Examples of supply chain in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For instance, by rethinking its supply chain, a company can not only reduce its carbon footprint but also cut costs and improve resilience—a win-win that underscores the business case for sustainability. 4. —Joel Carboni, Forbes, 27 Dec. 2024

Even its biggest rival, Amazon, recently introduced a Temu clone called Amazon Haul that closely resembles the original, both in terms of its logistics supply chain and user interface. —Zeyi Yang, WIRED, 26 Dec. 2024

Malaysia is a key player in the chip supply chain, increasingly the focus of U.S. national security concerns. —Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune Asia, 26 Dec. 2024

But there are also plans to optimize manufacturing, including facilities, as well as integrating supply chains and even sales financing to find cost savings and efficiencies. —Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 23 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined above