Supply chain basics

- For any one person, making a really good cup of coffee is a challenge, but making more than 10 million cups of coffee per day every day throughout the country and around the world, that is a task for Starbucks global supply chain. The supply chain team is responsible for the physical side of the business. The supply chain team buys things, makes things, and moves things. So let's break down the supply chain for a coffee shop, or in the case of Starbucks, tens of thousands of coffee shops. Supply chains buy things. This is the purchasing or procurement function. Sure, Starbucks needs to purchase coffee beans, cups, and lids, but also consider all the equipment behind the counter, the food items they sell, and the furniture in the shops. Everything in that coffee shop was purchased by the supply chain team in huge quantities. And for items like coffee beans, Starbucks needs those high-quality beans in stock every day. Developing relationships with reliable suppliers is required to keep the chain of supplies flowing to the customer. Supply chains also make things, the act of turning coffee beans into coffee drinks, the act of turning flour, butter, tomatoes, and cheese into sandwiches. These are just some of the operational tasks required to satisfying customers. So whether it's manufacturing, assembly, or day-to-day operations, supply chains take materials and turn them into something the customer wants. Again, anyone can probably make one good cup of coffee, but making millions of cups quickly to each customer's specifications every day at every single location, that's very difficult to do. But that's the job of supply chain managers. And remember, supply chains also move things. Starbucks procures coffee beans from nearly every continent. Getting those beans out of the country of origin, moving them safely thousands of miles and into the United States, through customs, supply chain does all of this with the help of the folks in logistics. Logistics is responsible for secure packaging, putting product in large metal standardized containers, choosing trucking and shipping companies to move them, and tracking the items as they move around the world. Moving items safely, on time, to the location where they're needed, this is the job of the supply chain team. We've looked at the massive global supply chain of a coffee company like Starbucks. Now consider the things you own. Specifically, let's consider your clothes. How did they get in your possession? Someone bought cloth, buttons, zippers, and stitching. Someone else turned those materials into your future clothing. And then that article of clothing was carefully packaged and shipped, perhaps from another country, to your favorite store or directly to your home. Every item we own has its own story. Every item was part of its own supply chain.