There was a time in the distant past when the products that you could buy from a market were the result of little if any collaboration. For example, if you were a soldier who wanted to buy a helmet, you would most likely go to a blacksmith. While the blacksmith is not responsible for mining the ore that is required to make the desired helmet, they only need to buy this raw material after which they can get straight to work. This process only involves three parties, namely the person mining the raw materials, the person that shapes them into their final form as well as the buyer.

It might surprise you to hear this, but the modern world functions in much the same way, except on a scale that is several orders of magnitude greater. The main difference is that while the medieval blacksmith could get metal from nearby, nowadays the raw materials are shipped halfway across the world to a manufacturing facility and then shipped halfway back so that the products can be sold to the highest buyer. Northwest haulage companies usually take the products from the docks, handling the last mile delivery that is often the costliest and most difficult part of the overall endeavor.

This whole process that we have just described is what is known as the supply chain. It enables value to be utterly maximized, and everyone involved tends to benefit. Countries with precious natural resources can collaborate with corporations who know how to extract these resources, and workers in other countries can then use their skills to essentially craft it into what the consumers are looking for so every link the chain is important.