Customer is the pivotal element of the every supply chain. The main objective of any firm’s supply chain is to fulfill customers’ needs and satisfy them, and earn some profit for itself. The process usually starts from suppliers to provide raw material to manufacturers, then they send products to distributors. Supply chain further involves the retailers which finally provide products to the end customers. The supply chain must make the efficient use of flows such as funds, information and products. Supply chain may contain just one or more partners at every stage. Some supply chains may involve two or more stages.
When any customer or client purchases a computer online from Dell Corporation, the Dell’s supply chain consists of the customer, assembly plant, website, suppliers and their respective suppliers. The website presents the complete information concerning the product lines/range its accessibility and pricing. After making a product choice customer or client enter the order information and pay price through credit card or another source. The customer again may visit the website to check the position of the purchase or order. Process further involves the fulfillment of the order by the information received from customer about the purchase. Supply chain further needs product, an additional flow of information, and funds among different stages of the supply chain.