Supply chains are made up of more than a few functional teams. They include purchasing, manufacturing, shipping, marketing, sales, and management. All of these categories operate to fulfil consumer demand or to compensate for any gaps in supply or demand.

(i) Supply: Suppliers deliver the raw materials in appropriate quantities and prescribed standards to manufacturers at the right mode of transportation. Supply companies may take use of bulk-buy discounts or seasonal supply-side surpluses to balance demand peaks or to protect against off-season pricing rises. However, the expense of holding and storing inventory items might offset any savings. Procurement teams work with both upstream and downstream functional teams. They make every effort to ensure material availability for processing activities while also keeping management and finance teams satisfied by preventing the building of surplus inventory stock.

(ii) Production: The purpose of manufacturing and processing activities is to utilise existing resources such as man, machine, and materials as efficiently as possible. To meet the future anticipated demand, the operations team may access direct sales forecasting information from sales, distribution, and even point of sale. Sales data and seasonal peaks can cause modifications in manufacturing schedules, and a concentration on certain inventory units can also change procurement

Requirements.

(iii) Distribution: Distribution is to bring items to market through the most successful channels. Vendors and retailers must collaborate to identify when reordering is required to refill the distribution canter's depleted inventory. End-to-end supply chain performance is an interconnected, collaborative effort in which managing customer and supplier relationships are crucial to the efficacy of the supply chain. Any inventory stock that is sitting in a warehouse might decay and become outdated. Distribution centres should only refill inventory supply when essential, not regularly.

(iv) Point-of-sale: Data allows for continuous inventory control at the retail end of the supply chain. When another item of inventory is sold, the retailer tracks the information and shares it with upstream sales, distribution, production, and procurement organisations. Demand information is collected for identifying the time to replenish the orders in short lead times. It ensures the availability of products in-store and balances the supply and demand.

(v) Management: The expectation of Shareholders keeps their eyes on a good return on investment. The organisation should enhance the sales and offer optimum service levels to their stakeholders. As a result, an efficient supply chain relies on the management to interconnect with different functional units, departments, and partner organisations in all sectors. The efficient functioning of the whole supply chain becomes a primary goal for all stakeholders, especially during times of variable, seasonal, or unexpectedly high customer demand.