5. Glossary

Supply chain

A term that refers to a set of players, sites, flows between sites, and the main processes (supply, production, distribution, after-sales and returns services) that take place in the chain.

The supply chain can be studied from various "points of view": that of a given company (whatever its business), which will see itself at the center of the chain and will reason in terms of upstream, internal and downstream chains (including any return chains); that of an outside observer (e.g. a researcher or consultant) who will see it in a more global way over the entire life cycle of a product and/or service.

The term "network" is sometimes preferred to "chain", which gives a linear image that doesn't match the mesh and complexity of today's multi-actor, multi-site logistics chains, in which the circulation of...