Open for Business, Where are the Supplies?

Now that the COVID-19 pandemic has reached a point where economic activity has normalized, why are we experiencing such significant supply chain challenges? What should I be doing as a company leader? 

Drivers of Supply Chain Disruptions:

It took time, a major global pandemic and multiple factors to create the today’s chaos and it will take time and focus on supply chain management to improve. Today’s challenges have been building over-time through the focus on low-cost global sourcing, maximizing supply chains cost efficiency, and long-simmering infrastructure issues. 

Supply chains dealt with near shutdown of activity at the beginning of the pandemic to record volumes driven by pentup demand. In addition, multiple shocks to the system including regional shut-downs, slow-downs due to mitigation measures, weather events, a container ship blocking a canal, and a lack of supply chain labor occurred simultaneously, cascading into the chaos we see today.

What Can Leaders Do: 

Surviving, and thriving, during this time of supply chain disruptions takes effort not only from supply chain professionals but also senior leadership. Key practices you should be reviewing include:

• Identify areas of key risk through supply chain mapping;
• Develop risk mitigation plans (dual-sourcing, reshoring or nearshoring suppliers; bring key parts production in-house, review inventory levels);
• Be proactive: look for early signals of disruption;
• Operating as a good supply chain partner; and
• Invest in your supply chain management team and make it a core competency.