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

Everyday 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

Examples of supply chain in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In fact, Marchenkova points out, finding and fixing supply chain and infrastructure gaps is currently one of the most pressing problems holding quantum back. —Big Think, 22 Oct. 2025

Decarbonization demands new grids and supply chains, which require cross-border financing and institutional trust. —Jessica Jurkschat, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2025

But what the industry also needs to understand, chimed in Patrik Frisk, CEO of materials regeneration firm Reju, is that textile-to-textile recycling, at least at scale, is an entirely new supply chain. —Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 22 Oct. 2025

As co-CEOs, Martinez will oversee brand, product creation, sales and marketing, while Panaccione will focus on product development, operations, supply chain, finance and culture. —Stephen Garner, Footwear News, 22 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for supply chain

• aeroplane
• appertain
• ascertain
• capitaine
• cassegrain
• cellophane
• chatelaine
• counterpane
• entertain
• gethsemane
• halothane
• hurricane