The insights presented in this paper were gained during the early phase of an ongoing master’s thesis, analyzing the supply chain of one particular branch of manufacturing industry.  Prior to the investigation of the supply chain as a whole, several models needed to be assembled to facilitate the analyses of the separate stages.  Each stage usually consists of numerous companies which can - due to their commonalities - be aggregated and examined as one single company.  For this purpose, a generic approach was designed to assist in constructing comprehensive models of companies from the manufacturing industry.  This approach is introduced in the paper by identifying all sectors that compose the business of a manufacturing company and by pointing out the interdependencies among those sectors.  Subsequently, a model case demonstrates one potential way of transforming the generic pattern of causalities into a simulation model, including an exemplary set of model equations.  Eventually, an analysis of one simulation run and its implications is conducted, and ideas for advancements of the approach are discussed.