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

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The tally widened the delivery gap with Boeing’s chief rival, Airbus, which gave 766 jetliners to customers last year, the most since 2019, though both companies are facing supply chain strains that have slowed production and fulfillment of their otherwise robust backlogs. —

Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 14 Jan. 2025 Both Western and Chinese companies are investing in Malaysia to help diversify their supply chains. —

Paolo Confino, Fortune Asia, 14 Jan. 2025 Which industry has the most to teach fashion about improving their supply chain logistics? —

Andre Claudio, Sourcing Journal, 14 Jan. 2025 The agenda includes transitioning to sustainable and resilient tourism that places people and the planet at its core, localizing supply chains, de-risking investments and protecting biodiversity. —

Panorama Media Ltd., Miami Herald, 14 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for supply chain