3. Mapping the supply chain

Creating illustrative Tier Maps of a supply chain helps users define sale and purchase relationships between Producers in the platform.

Each node in the map contains a Role, a from-Role, and an output product. This information indicates that a Role can buy from the from-Role and can sell an output product to the Role of its next node. The output product that a Role can buy is determined by its previous node.

The map can also show that the two roles of two linked nodes can trade with each other through intermediaries (brokers). A double vertical bar will be displayed to indicate that trading via intermediaries is possible if permission has been set accordingly in the Producer Role configuration.

Additional raw material extractors

Super Administrator can add multiple raw material extractors to one supply chain, enabling each Producer to transform multiple types of output products and purchase multiple types of input products. Raw material extractors can be added by clicking on “Add Another Flow”. The Super Administrator can also set calculated field thresholds for each output product.

Example: This map illustrates a chain of six producers: Farm, Ginner, Spinner, Fabric Mill, Garment Factories, and Dyeing Units. Ginners can sell their cotton bales and cotton seeds to Spinners, and Spinners can buy cotton bales and cotton seeds from Ginners. The double vertical bar between two nodes indicates producers that can not only buy and sell directly with each other but can also buy and sell through intermediaries. The Ginner may sell the cotton bales to an intermediary, and the Spinner can buy this cotton bales. Garment Factories can buy products from both the Fabric Mill and Dyeing units.