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
Peter S. GoodmanEveryday 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
Amanda MullExamples of supply chain in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But most routine disease surveillance happens at the end of the supply chain.
—Linda Qiu, New York Times, 20 May 2024
Nuclear energy proponents are confident there’s been enough technological advancement to prevent previous disasters, although communities along the supply chain for uranium are still on edge.
—Justine Calma, The Verge, 14 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for supply chain 
Linda Qiu, New York Times, 20 May 2024
Nuclear energy proponents are confident there’s been enough technological advancement to prevent previous disasters, although communities along the supply chain for uranium are still on edge.
—Justine Calma, The Verge, 14 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for supply chain
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'supply chain.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Supply chain.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/supply%20chain. Accessed 29 May. 2024.
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