What is the difference between component chains and supply chains on the platform?

Component chains are sub-supply chains. They describe the material flow of your components, and can also be re-used across several of your different products. The component chains show the specific supply chains for the ingredients (e.g. acai component chain, banana component chain, cashew component chain) of a product (e.g. nut butter).

Using distinct component chains can be especially helpful when you have several different ingredients or several different origins / process steps for the same ingredient.

For example: if your final chocolate bar is produced with cocoa powder. This cocoa powder might come - depending on the batch - from different origins and be either a single origin component or one that is mixed. In this case, we would suggest the following process:

• Set up 1 component chain per origin of cocoa beans.

• Merge the cocoa component chains into 1 joint component chain that might represent the powder and consists of, e.g., 3 separate component chains of dried cocoa beans.

• Add the cocoa powder component chain and the other ingredient component chains into the final supply chain of your product.

The supply chain of the final product can be mapped under “Supply chains”. Here you should import the individual component chains and then add the steps that are not component-specific, such as the manufacturing and distribution steps of the final product. These supply chains are then later included in the communication as a product journey.

For more see the related articles on components and component chains.