Question

given the five stages of a supply chain (customer, retailer, distributor, manufacturer, supplier), all supply chain processes can be broken down into the following four process cycles:

Answer 1

The supply chain involves a process that includes suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and customers with increased globalization allowing for specialized stages of product development.

Step-by-step explanation:

The supply chain process represents how products are managed from creation to delivery to the final consumer, passing through suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and customers. With the advent of globalization and advancements in technology, the value chain of products is increasingly being split across international borders, allowing for specialization and intra-industry trade.

This specialization leads to higher economic efficiency as it allows stakeholders to divide labor and innovation more effectively. For instance, producing a modern smartphone like the iPhone might involve design in the United States, component manufacturing in Korea, assembly in China, and marketing back in the United States.

Supply chain improvements, such as sharing technologies and enhancing labor rights, can lead to more refined products and resilient distributions, which is particularly vital during periods like the COVID-19 pandemic when supply chains are disrupted. Companies around the world are encouraged to integrate these new improvements both at international and national levels for a sustainable and efficient supply chain ecosystem.