Everyday Supply Chain
You order a hoodie online, and it arrives at your house two days later. What part of the supply chain gets it from the seller to you?
Delivery / Logistics
You see a product on a store shelf and decide to buy it. Who is the final person in this transaction?
Consumer / Customer
store sells out of a popular product every weekend. What should it probably do?
Order more inventory
Which country is especially famous for being a major manufacturing hub for products sold around the world?
China
Which company is famous for fast delivery and a large global fulfillment network?
Amazon
A grocery store runs out of milk because more customers bought it than expected. What problem is the store experiencing?
Stockout
A store orders products from a company and then sells them to customers. What is the store called in the supply chain?
Retailer
A company has tons of products sitting in a warehouse that nobody is buying. What should it try to do?
Reduce excess inventory / Sell the products
What major transportation network connects cities and countries using trains?
Rail / Railway
What iconic red-and-white beverage company has one of the world's largest distribution networks?
Coca-Cola
A company stores products in a large building before sending them to stores or customers. What is this building called?
Warehouse
A company sells products directly to customers through its website instead of using a traditional store. What is this type of selling called?
Direct-to-consumer / DTC
A customer wants their package tomorrow, but the cheapest shipping option takes five days. What trade-off is the company facing?
Cost vs. speed
Goods traveling between countries often cross oceans. What is the name for transporting goods by ship?
Ocean freight / Sea freight
What Swedish furniture company is famous for its flat-pack products that customers assemble themselves?
IKEA
A store orders more products when its supply starts getting low so it doesn’t run out. What is this process called?
Replenishment
A store expects umbrellas to become very popular during a week of heavy rain. What should the store do ahead of time?
Increase/prepare inventory
A company depends on one supplier for an important product, but that supplier suddenly shuts down. What problem could this cause?
Supply disruption / Supplier risk
Why might a company manufacture a product in one country and sell it in another?
Lower costs, access to suppliers, labour, resources, or customers
A product goes from a supplier → factory → warehouse → store → customer. What do we call this entire journey?
Supply Chain
A company wants to make sure it has enough products available without ordering way more than it needs. What is this process called?
Inventory management
A store has thousands of products but limited shelf space. What supply-chain challenge does it have to manage?
Inventory / Space management
A company wants to save money by ordering 10,000 units at once, but now it needs a huge warehouse to store them. What trade-off is it dealing with?
Lower purchasing costs vs. higher storage/inventory costs
A company buys materials from several different countries instead of relying on one country. What is one major benefit?
Reduces supply risk / Diversifies suppliers
Why does IKEA use flat-pack furniture? Name one supply-chain advantage.
Easier/cheaper transportation and storage