SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
“ Supply chains that are well understood can be made more resilient by understanding bottlenecks and creating failover plans and redundancy of supply as needed ,” David says .
“ These and other preventative actions can create first-mover advantage in mitigating macro risks that impact multiple competitors and their supply bases simultaneously .”
Increasing resilience So , how can businesses enhance supply chain resilience ?
Joe ’ s belief is that , rather than simplifying supply chains , firms should embrace their complexity .
Naturally , he believes investing in new technologies is of paramount importance . Early detection systems , for example , can automate supply chain risk management and provide real-time supply chain visibility , helping businesses to quickly develop proactive responses to get ahead of disruptions .
Emerging tech like Gen AI should also be embraced in a bid to transform decision -making and operational efficiency with predictive analytics and automation .
Elsewhere , collaboration is increasingly perceived as being vital to resilience , as Joe explains : “ Businesses looking to strengthen supply chain operations should consider prioritising partnerships , rather than competition .
“ By collaborating with other companies , there will be an increase in real-time visibility , joint problem solving and relationship building across the entire supply chain .”
“ACHIEVING AGILITY REQUIRES CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTS TO SUPPLY CHAIN PROCESSES , INCLUDING CONSTANT EVALUATION AND OPTIMISATION ”
JOE MCMANUS VP SALES , KÖRBER SUPPLY CHAIN SOFTWARE
David references suppliers too , emphasising that understanding and tracking tier-n suppliers can help predict potential failure points among tier 1 suppliers , allowing for inventory buffers , ramping of alternate supply sources and even forward purchasing of raw materials on behalf of those tier 1 suppliers .
He adds : “ Companies can improve resilience by seeking out alternate sources of supply , including leveraging nearshoring and friendshoring strategies .
“ These same concepts can be applied to logistics capacity and network resilience as well as to labour availability and cross training throughout the supply chain .” manufacturingdigital . com 109