when a non price determinant has an external impact on supply the entire supply curve will shift for example consider technological innovations that influence how much of a good can be delivered instead of simply being a different point along an existing curve the entire supply curve will move and a new equilibrium point will exist on the new line 
law of supply and demandthe concept of supply is a cornerstone is the economic pillar of the law of supply and demand consider how consumers want to buy products for as low as possible while manufacturers retailers want to sell products for as high as possible the point at which supply and demand meet is what sets the market price the relationship between supply and demand is constantly evolving as market demands raw material constraints and consumer preferences consistently shift both curves all else being equal if the supply of a product outweighs the demand the price of the good will fall alternatively if the demand for a product outweighs the supply the price will rise these and other outcomes can be graphically depicted using both the supply and demand curves as the supply curve is upward sloping to the right and the demand curve is downward sloping to the right the two curves often intersect at the market price for a given level of supply demand movements along or shifts in the supply curve will have a residual impact on the intersecting point with demand factors that affect supplyas a consumer considers whether or not to increase production there are a number of items it must keep in mind alternatively there are considerations from the buyer and external independent parties that also dictate levels of supply factors that affect supply include types of supplyshort term supply is the inventory immediately available for consumption when short term supply has been exhausted consumers must wait for additional manufacturing or production for more goods to become available short term supply is the maximum amount consumers can immediately purchase long term supply considers consumer demand material availability capital investment and macroeconomic conditions these factors all dictate how a company should shift manufacturing to meet long term demand though long term supply may only be able to grow gradually over time suppliers have greater control over increasing or decreasing long term supply by enacting operational strategies joint supply occurs when the manufacturing of one good will result in the byproduct of another good regardless of the demand for the byproduct good it may be manufactured and supplied simply in response for demand of the other product for example the production of crude petroleum results in gasoline fuel oil kerosene and asphalt the supply of one item may increase simply due to greater demand of other items market supply refers to the daily supply of goods often with a very short term usable life for example grocery stores may measure their market supply of fresh produce or fish each of these goods is exclusively dependent on the supplier s ability to harvest these products as additional supply may be out of the control of the farmer opposite of joint supply composite supply is the offering of a product that is multiple products packaged together both products must be offered together and the maximum supply is equal to the smaller of the two products for example a company manufacturers pints of ice cream that are sold along with compostable spoons neither product is sold individually in this example the amount of composite supply is the lower of the quantity of pints of ice cream or composable spoons though the supply curve is often a curving upward sloping line there may be exceptions based on the supply and market conditions for a given product exceptions to the law of supplythe rules of the supply curve are often consistent however there are situations where the rules of supply are broken and exceptions to the economic concept yield abnormal results use of supply in macroeconomicsmoney supply refers specifically to the entire stock of currency and liquid assets in a country economists will analyze and monitor this supply formulating policies and regulations based on its fluctuation through controlling interest rates and other such measures official data on a country s money supply must be accurately recorded and made public periodically the european sovereign debt crisis which began in 2009 is a good example of the role of a country s money supply and the global economic impact global supply chain finance is another important concept related to supply in today s globalized world supply chain finance aims to effectively link all tenets of a transaction including the buyer seller financing institution and by proxy the supplier to lower overall financing costs and speed up the process of business supply chain finance is often made possible through a technology based platform and is affecting industries such as the automobile and retail sectors 