Monday, March 17, 2014

Basic Pattern of a Supply Chain



Well, it’s been a while since my last post. It is evident that this blog is new but set to inspire the minds of both old and young Nigerians and the rest of Africa about the enormous benefits of a sound supply chain system.

It’s not my plan to bore you with my life’s stores but just on my way to religious center in south-west Nigeria. I noticed the premise had fewer cars parked than at the beginning of year. That tells a lot, doesn’t it?
Ok!

Back to supply chain. I would like to start at the grassroots’ stage up to the advance levels.
To one that doesn’t know a thing on supply chain, it’s basically the entire chain of taking raw materials and turning them into products/services, conveying them from the manufacturers/service providers to the consumers through various channels in a cost-effective and profitable way. That’s just it.
Simple supply chain diagram:



Well, above is the basic diagram of how the television or car you bought the other day got to you. There is also the possibility of Reverse Logistics. We discuss that later on.

So, a supplier gives raw materials to a producer and the producer supplies a retail store that sells to a customer (that’s you). Information flows both ways along the chain (up and down stream). For the cash flow (we all love cash), it flows in one direction only; the customer pays the retailer who pays the producer who then pays the supplier of the raw materials. Finito!

I hope you’ve learned something from this.
My next post will explain the 2 types of supply chain and the form of categories of events and firms that fall into the 3 entities shown in the diagram.

Till next time, enjoy your world.

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