Value Chain

A value chain is the full range of activities ? including design, production, marketing and distribution ? businesses go through to bring a product or service from conception to delivery. For companies that produce goods, the value chain starts with the raw materials used to make their products, and consists of everything that is added to it before it is sold to consumers. The process of actually organizing all of these activities so they can be properly analyzed is called value chain management. The goal of value chain management is to ensure that those in charge of each stage of the value chain are communicating with one another, to help make sure the product is getting in the hands of customers as seamlessly and as quickly as possible.