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

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Willy Shih teaches in the Technology and Operations Management unit at Harvard Business School, and writes about manufacturing and supply chains. —

Willy Shih, Forbes, 14 Dec. 2024 As for looming price hikes, Hallinan said the DeWalt and Craftsman owner has been in talks with these supply chain partners about potential outcomes. —

Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 14 Dec. 2024 That means new opportunities for entire supply chains and surrounding ecosystems. —

Justin Worland, TIME, 13 Dec. 2024 Inflation and interest rates grew during the pandemic, further depressing housing production, and supply chain disruptions drove up the cost of building materials. —

Jacob Posner, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for supply chain