Supply chains
Where products come from before they reach the customer; raw materials, making, transporting, and selling; the journey of a product from start to finish
What a learner can do afterwards
- Trace the journey of a familiar product (e.g. chocolate bar) from raw material to shop shelf
- Identify at least three stages in a supply chain
- Explain why a long supply chain can make a product more expensive
1 · Read
A supply chain includes the people and activities that get a product from its materials to a customer. Growing materials, making products, storing them, transporting them and selling them can all be stages. A model can group several activities into one stage.
Cocoa beans are seeds inside pods on cocoa trees. Workers harvest the pods, remove the beans, then ferment and dry them. To make milk chocolate, a factory roasts and processes the beans and adds ingredients such as sugar and milk. Finished bars are packed and transported to shops, sometimes through a warehouse.
Workers, materials, storage and transport cost money. In a made-up example, an item costs 80p to make. An extra delivery costs 15p. With no other changes, the total becomes 95p. Adding a paid task raises total cost when no other costs fall.
A shorter list of stages does not prove a lower cost. Distance, materials and production methods also matter. Compare the actual costs of different routes. Cost is what a business spends. The selling price is what a customer pays.
The number of stages depends on how a model groups activities. If a question says each box is one stage, count every box once. A model with more boxes may show the same journey in more detail. Do not add stages that the question does not show.
To find a total cost, add all the listed costs in the same unit. For a made-up pencil case, materials cost 50p, delivery costs 20p and packaging costs 5p. Add 50 + 20 + 5 = 75p. This is total cost, not profit or a selling price.
Supply chains connect materials, making and delivery to customers. Extra work can add cost, but counting stages alone does not tell you the cost or selling price.
Four original readings written for this dataset about connected supply-chain work, environmental and worker questions, evidence for product journeys and comparing route costs.
More to read
When one stage affects another
Imagine a workshop making school bags. It has an order to finish, but the fabric has not arrived. Sewing cannot begin until the needed material is available.
The workshop needs information as well as deliveries. It must know which fabric was ordered, how much is coming and when to expect it. A delivery of the wrong fabric would create a different problem.
Later, the finished bags need packing and transport. Arriving on time is useful only if the order is correct and the bags are in usable condition.
People managing supply chains coordinate this connected work. They can consider another supplier or route when a problem occurs, but alternatives may have different costs or limits.
Effects along the way
Questions about a supply chain go beyond its delivery time. How were materials obtained? What were working conditions like? What happened to land and water during production?
Transport can also affect the environment. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, which contributes to warming the planet. Emissions depend on the vehicle, fuel, distance and amount carried. Distance by itself does not tell the whole story.
A business may change a material, supplier or delivery method to reduce harm. That does not mean the product has no environmental effects.
Look for details when reading a claim. A statement about using less packaging describes one change. It does not tell you everything about the farms, factories and transport involved.
Showing what you know about a journey
Choose a product and examine the information available about it. A label might name the place where it was made. A maker's description might explain a material or a production step.
Record those details before drawing a route. Knowing where the product was made does not reveal where every material came from. It also does not tell you which vehicles carried it.
Use named boxes for stages supported by your information. Mark an unknown route as unknown. Do not add a country or ship because it would make the drawing look complete.
Two models can show different amounts of detail. One might group making into a single box; another might separate cutting, sewing and packing. State what each box means before comparing their stage counts.
Comparing supply routes
A business may choose between suppliers nearby and suppliers in other countries. Goods bought from another country are imports. Goods sold to another country are exports.
To compare supply routes, the business needs more than a map. It needs information about material costs, making costs and the work needed to move and store the goods.
A distant supplier might charge less for making a product but require a more expensive delivery. A nearby supplier might have higher making costs. The total depends on the actual amounts, not distance or stage count alone.
Keep cost separate from selling price. Cost is what the business spends. Selling price is what the customer pays. Counting boxes in a supply-chain drawing does not calculate either amount.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
This opens up
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.