The same (or similar) thing can be said about today's complex, interconnected "supply web" versus the traditional, almost quaint and simplistic concept of it as a linear "supply chain."

Today’s global supply chain has become increasingly complex, and as pointed out by two economists at consulting firm IHS, “the metaphor of a linear supply chain, with product moving chronologically through the stages of supply, production and distribution, may be heading toward obsolescence. Instead, today's global supply chain is increasingly looking and acting like a global supply web. The concept of a series of interconnecting links, from the input link (supplier) to the output link (distribution), has given way to a network pattern involving myriad suppliers, producers and distributors cascading across international boundaries.”

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