How to Plan for Success in the Face of Supply Chain Disruption

This is the perfect time to reassess the next two to three months of operations. Use the best information you have from a variety of sources – including calculation tools, available science relating to the current virus, and industry data. Don’t be afraid to ask your clients about their plans to help inform your plans, but also make your own assessments.

Do you create a product like masks, where demand likely will remain high for the foreseeable future? Or maybe you produce something like Plexiglas, which likely saw its peak production in previous months and is now decreasing. Revisit your supply chains’ ability to support this rapidly changing demand and determine what must shift if you need to aggressively increase or decrease production.

Also consider how social distancing might affect your work environment. What kinds of adjustments will you have to make? How will you bring people back to work in the safest possible manner? And how will those arrangements affect your typical production numbers?

While most businesses were not prepared for the current supply chain disruptions, you can prepare for the future. The key themes here are visibility, resiliency and continuity. Form a supply-focused business continuity subcommittee that can complete an honest post-mortem of your current supply chain and your response to the current disruption.

Understand your critical components and where those items are in the chain, refresh your supply base segmentation analysis, and complete a targeted risk rating of your supply base. Then, shape your recommendations to align with your executive committee’s implementation plans.