before a bar of soap is bought by a customer, it goes through a long production process. first, the raw materials are shipped to a manufacturer that blends the soap and molds it into bars. then, the bars are sent to a packaging plant to be put into boxes and printed with labels. finally, the bars are shipped to distributors throughout the country where they are sold to customers. the relationship among the raw materials distributor, the soap manufacturer, the packaging plant, and the stores wher