Supply chain

A network of economic actors (producers, distributors, importers) who are involved in the production of a good or a service, from design to sale to the end-user.

The supply chain describes a "sequence of steps, often done in different firms and/or locations, needed to produce a final good from primary factors, starting with processing of raw materials, continuing with production of perhaps a series of intermediate inputs, and ending with final assembly and distribution."
(Deardorff, A., Deardorff's Glossary of International Economics, visited 2010-02-16)