A supply chain is a network between a company and its suppliers to produce and

distribute a specific product to the final buyer. This network includes different activities,
people, entities, information, and resources. The supply chain also represents the steps
it takes to get the product or service from its original state to the customer.
Supply chain management is important because it helps lower the cost of doing
business and it provides a way for a business to form a competitive advantage without
needing to lower its prices while allowing it to deliver orders more quickly to customers.
Supply Chain Management is important for several specific reasons:
● Upgrades customer service
● Decreases operating costs.
● Recognizes potential problems.
There are five fundamental elements in supply chain management which are:
1. Planning
2. Sourcing
3. Manufacturing
4. Delivering
5. Returning
Supply Chain and logistics are often used interchangeably; however, there are many
important differences between them. The quickest distinction to make is that supply
chains are responsible for the overall sourcing, processing, and delivery of goods to the
end customer, while logistics specifically focuses on moving and storing goods between
different supply chain organizations.
Outsourcing is a business practice in which services or job functions are farmed out to a
third party. In information technology, an outsourcing initiative with a technology
provider can involve a range of operations, from the entirety of the IT function to
discrete, easily defined components, such as disaster recovery, network services,
software development or QA testing.
Offshoring is the relocation of a business process from one country to another—typically
an operational process, such as manufacturing, or supporting processes, such as
accounting. Typically, this refers to a company business, although state governments
may also employ offshoring.[1] More recently, technical, and administrative services
have been offshored.
Offshoring and outsourcing are not mutually inclusive: there can be one without the
other. They can be intertwined (offshore outsourcing), and can be individually or jointly,
partially, or completely reversed, involving terms such as reshoring, inshoring, and
insourcing.
Inventory control or stock control can be broadly defined as "the activity of checking a
shop’s stock”. However, a more focused definition takes into account the more science-
based, methodical practice of not only verifying a business' inventory but also focusing
on the many related facets of inventory management (such as forecasting future
demand) "within an organization to meet the demand placed upon that business
economically." Other facets of inventory control include supply chain management,
production control, financial flexibility, and customer satisfaction.
There are four main ways to maintain inventory in your business. 

 A pen and paper

 Excel spreadsheets

 Simple inventory software

 Advanced software