A product as a network of nodes, ties and flows.

Any finished product is a result of a network of nodes, ties and flows. A node is a physical place; a factory where something is produced or a shop where a product is sold. A tie is something which links these places either physically; the transportation of the product, the shipping industry or online; websites or emailing. The flow is the product that travels through the nodes and that is carried by the ties. The volume of the flow is determined by the demand for the product. The success of the network depends on the demand for the product which is determined by its quality, pricing, desgin, advertising and sales.

Butlers Irish Chocolates is an Irish brand producing Irish handmade chocolates in Dublin since 1932. Although their chocolate is an Irish product its main ingredient, cocoa grows in parts of Latin America and Africa. The cocoa beans grow in pods in cocoa trees. After six months they are harvested. Within 24 hours the beans have fermanted. This creates the chocolate flavour. The beans are then cleaned, roasted and ground into cocoa mass which is pressed into cocoa butter from which cocoa powder is produced. In this form it is transported to the factory in Dublin where the chocolates are made.

The farm and factories both in Latin America, Africa and Ireland and the shops where the finished, packaged chocolates are sold are the nodes. The ties are based on the logistics of managers that organise the flying, shipping and driving of the raw materials from the farm to the factory and from the factory to the shops and of course from the shops to the homes of loving consumers. What flows between the nodes is the flow, the chocolate in all its forms; the raw cocoa beans, the cocoa butter, the Easter egg or the Mothers' Day variety box.

Behind every product is a huge network of people involved in its conception, production, distribution and consumption. This network starts with an idea. Take for example Butlers Irish Chocolates. The production of Easter eggs by Butlers begins with the design of the egg, the managers figure out the demand for the product, they order a specific amount of ingredients based on this, they organise the design of the packaging, the materials for which must also be purchased thus creating a network of professionals in each field. Such a small thing as an Easter egg has involved an interconnected network of people; from the farmer who grows the cocoa pods, to the lorry driver who brings them to the port, to the worker who loads the ship, to the insurance company that cover the cargo getting lost, to the factory managers who conrol the product's quality, to the maintanance and machine installers, to the workers who package the finished product, to the people who designed that packaging, to the shop display designers who specialise in creating an environment conducive to the sale and finally to the consumer who buys and enjoys the product.

This network is interdependent. Without one of these elements that make up a network; nodes, ties and flows the product would not exist.