However different two companies are, their supply chains do the same handful of jobs. A widely used model, SCOR, splits them into plan, source, make, deliver and return, with enable for the systems and people that support them all.
Plan is deciding what you'll need and when: forecasting demand, then matching it with what you can buy, make and store. Good planning is why a shop has umbrellas before the rainy season, not after it.
Source is buying: finding suppliers, agreeing prices and terms, placing orders, receiving the goods and paying for them. In most companies this is the procurement team's job, which has a course of its own here.
Make is turning what you bought into what you sell: assembling, mixing, cooking, packing. A shop or a distributor doesn't make anything, so for them this step is small or missing. Deliver is getting the finished goods to customers: taking orders, storing stock in warehouses, picking and packing, and transport.
Return is the trip backwards: faulty goods, unwanted online orders, packaging to reuse, and products at the end of their life. It's easy to forget, but for clothes sold online a third or more of the orders can come back, so it's a supply chain in its own right.
Put the main steps of a manufacturer's supply chain in order.
| Plan | Forecast demand and match supply to it. |
|---|---|
| Source | Choose suppliers, buy, receive, pay. |
| Make | Turn inputs into products. |
| Deliver | Orders, warehousing, transport. |
| Return | Faults, unwanted orders, recycling. |
| SCOR | A common model of these steps. |