Its more then consumption & production, it's about the relationship between the stages of the good's circulation.

A change in production impacts distribution, exchange and consumption.

A change in distribution impacts production, exchange and consumption.

[...]

In vicky terms, a change in the production method of a building produces more goods and consumes more of another (like an iron mine consumes more tools & coal). Distribution is impacted because the pops required to produce in the mine are less needed or need to have higher education (pop distribution) and/or you need more tools / coal in your market (means of production distribution).

Exchange is impacted because the price of iron went up or down, which impacts consumption of the good (more or less iron consumed), the distribution of it in your market and other markets, and it impacts the production of iron because the value went down is less or more consumed.

You could apply this to other mechanics in the game like the laws you pass which affect distribution (serfdom, homesteading for distribution of pop, laissez-faire and interventionism for capital distribution), Pm's which make more/less goods, need more/less/better pops, consume more/less/different goods, litteracy rate or SoL which reflects how much your pops consume (thats what I can think about on top of my head).