New Concepts in Classification of Supply Chains

This article intends to classify supply chains based on new concepts. We will introduce a new concept called supply network which simplifies the complex process of supply chain as a multidimensional fluid concept. The articulation of supply networks, as an extension of supply chains, seeks to accommodate and explain the commercial complexity associated with the creation and delivery of goods and services from the source of raw materials to their destination in end-customer markets. Supply networks differ substantially according to the type of product being supplied. Eventually we will propose a framework for classifying supply networks; we distinguish a matrix of four types of supply network. This classification supports and develops Fishers argument that the supply chain for an innovative product should be different from that of a functional product due to differences in demand patterns.