Interruption or confusion in the flow of materials quickly stops production.
Other points include energy transformations and transfers within the biosphere and the cyclic flow of materials needed for life.
The first requisite of this process is an accurately controlled flow of materials into the assembly plants.
If the value chain is properly understood, it's possible to optimise the flow of materials throughout the system as a whole.
Services supply chains and manufacturing supply chains both consist of entities and assets linked by the flow of materials, information, and money, but they differ in many ways.
During the last 25 years, companies and countries have spent billions of dollars on smarter softwares and faster computers for automating the flow of materials through manufacturing stages.
This has impact on the flow of materials and information across the network.
Floors should be well maintained and main aisles should parallel the flow of materials in process.
The need for careful control over the flow of materials is an incentive for automobile firms to manufacture their own components, sometimes directly but more often through subsidiaries.
But it has a bigger meaning: the management of the flow of materials through an organisation, from raw materials to finished goods.
"Since Sept. 11, we have made some adjustments in the flow of materials and adjusted our lead times," said Michael Hissma, a Delphi spokesman in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso.
