Seeing the big picture of a supply chain

(mid-tempo gentle music) - [Instructor] Wow, you've got a job working in the supply chain. That's really exciting. You're part of something big. But what is a supply chain exactly? Well, the best way to explain what a supply chain is is to start by understanding what a chain does. And supply chains deliver value to customers. Think about the last time you went to the store to buy bread. Is bread valuable? Sure, it is. Come on, everybody loves bread. As a customer, well, you just pick the brand of bread you want and pay the cashier. It's easy, right? But bread bread doesn't just magically appear on the store shelves. In fact, when you really stop to think about what's involved in making sure that there's an assortment of fresh bread available, it's actually pretty amazing. First, think about all of the ingredients in bread. They all come from different sources. They had to be harvested, processed and packaged, and then transported to the bakery. The bakery needs energy to run the ovens, and they need recipes, people, and machines to make the bread. Then they need packaging materials and trucks to get the bread to the store. If any one of those pieces breaks down, guess what? No bread for you, so all of those steps are important for delivering the bread that you value. When you trace that journey of a loaf of bread backwards, you find that there's a chain of companies working together who all played an important part. And that's the supply chain for your bread. And it turns out that every product and every service has a supply chain. There are lots of different companies that buy, make, and deliver things that ultimately have value to a customer. Supply chains are all around us, but people often take them for granted. Making sure that all of the parts work together efficiently takes planning and collaboration. And no matter what your specific job duties are, doing that job well can make a big difference for everyone in your supply chain.