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

Blockchain is able to supply a decentralized, immutable ledger of all transactions that occur at every stage in the supply chain. —Alvin Kan, Forbes.com, 27 Mar. 2025

The tariffs come shortly after pandemic-era supply chain disruptions pushed up car prices for U.S. drivers. —Bailey Schulz, USA Today, 27 Mar. 2025

The automobile supply chain is highly complex and intertwined with the economies of Mexico and Canada, from which American brands source finished vehicles and parts. —Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 27 Mar. 2025

Louisville Similar to the other metros, Louisville, Ky., is also involved in the automotive supply chain. —Solcyré Burga, Time, 27 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for supply chain

• aeroplane
• appertain
• ascertain
• capitaine
• cassegrain
• cellophane
• chatelaine
• counterpane
• entertain
• gethsemane
• halothane
• hurricane