Supply chain
Material moving from suppliers to end customers, with reverse flow for returns. Regions group the upstream / production / downstream bands; dashed lines mark the reverse path.
Three-stage supply chain with returns
Upstream suppliers feed production; production pushes through distribution to the customer; a dashed reverse arrow carries returns back to the DC. Note calls out lead time.
doc { cols: 6, rows: 3, theme: { primary: '#1e3a5f', accent: '#e8792f' } }
region @A1:B3 "Upstream" color=primary/14
region @E1:F3 "Downstream" color=accent/14
icon :sup1 @A1 tabler/building-factory "Supplier A"
icon :sup2 @A3 tabler/building-factory "Supplier B"
icon :wh @B2 tabler/building-warehouse "Raw WH"
icon :prod @C2 tabler/hammer "Production" sizeScale=1.3
icon :qa @D2 tabler/clipboard-check "QA"
icon :dc @E2 tabler/building-warehouse "DC"
icon :cust @F2 tabler/user "Customer"
sup1 --> wh
sup2 --> wh
wh --> prod
prod --> qa
qa --> dc
dc --> cust
cust --> dc "returns" dash="4 4"
note @C1 (prod) "Lead time\n14 days"Multi-tier suppliers
Tier-2 suppliers feed Tier-1 assemblers, who feed the OEM. Visual tiers make the dependency depth obvious at a glance.
doc { cols: 4, rows: 3 }
region @A1:A3 "Tier 2" color=secondary/14
region @B1:B3 "Tier 1" color=primary/14
icon :t2a @A1 tabler/building-factory "raw mat"
icon :t2b @A2 tabler/building-factory "components"
icon :t2c @A3 tabler/building-factory "packaging"
icon :t1a @B1 tabler/building-factory "assembly"
icon :t1b @B2 tabler/building-factory "assembly"
icon :oem @C2 tabler/building-factory "OEM" sizeScale=1.3
icon :ship @D2 tabler/truck-delivery "Ship"
t2a --> t1a
t2b --> t1a
t2b --> t1b
t2c --> t1b
t1a --> oem
t1b --> oem
oem --> shipInventory flow: receive → store → pick
The minimal loop any DC runs. Barcode / QR scans drive every transition; mismatches route to an exception bin.
doc { cols: 5 }
icon :recv tabler/truck-loading "Receive"
icon :scan tabler/barcode "Scan"
icon :store tabler/stack-2 "Store"
icon :pick tabler/package "Pick"
icon :ship tabler/truck-delivery "Ship"
recv --> scan
scan --> store "match"
scan --> pick "mismatch" dash="4 4" color=accent
store --> pick
pick --> shipReverse logistics
Returns flow back through inspection, then branch to refurbish or recycle. Hover the diagram and scrub — frame 1 is intake and inspection, frame 2 takes the serviceable-refurb branch, frame 3 takes the damaged-recycle branch.
