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Covid-19 created a host of problems for the supply chain logistics and management industry. Businesses have come to realize with little time to prepare how important it is to have a substantive strategy for withstanding rapid and drastic change.
Strengthening your supply chain to withstand this change requires keeping in mind the various challenges and risks associated with doing business. Building a comprehensive strategy may take time, but the payoff is vital considering this and all crises to come.
Here, we outline how you can better strengthen your supply chain practices with three simple strategies.
- Conduct risk assessments
Some risks are predictable. Others are global events that no one could have been truly prepared for. While some might have seen the trade war coming, the pandemic emerged with suddenness and force adding to a perfect storm for supply chain shortages. Now, to survive, supply chains must be ready with a thorough analysis of all potential risks within and without the workplace.
Risk assessments are a vital part of this process. By conducting risk assessments, you reduce the potential costs involved with:
- Harm to people and assets
- Liability
- Equipment functionality
An effective post-pandemic risk assessment will include health and safety liability issues as well as challenges as a result of shutdowns from suppliers and manufacturers. You should maintain an awareness of how cost may play out in the event of an emergency and create insurance opportunities to avoid loss.
- Implement risk management processes
One of the most effective things you can do to reduce risk and strengthen supply chains is to implement processes for all inevitabilities. While you cannot plan for everything, of course, using predictive analytics and data modeling alongside common-sense risk management processes will help you develop better strategies.
Supply chain management software can bring a host of benefits in the world of business, increasingly happening online. This software can help automate and improve processes, everything including:
- Inventory controlnventory
- Streamlined product tracking
- Communication across businesses
This last point is especially vital. With concerns like health shutdowns and supply chain disruptions, the need for effective communication is more important than ever. Luckily, the tools for successful communication are here. Your next step is building a communication plan that utilizes data platforms and technological strategies for getting real-time updates to every link in your chain.
- Take advantage of available tech
To compete in the future of global trade, supply chain managers should take advantage of all available technology. An enormous amount of supply chain management technology exists on the market already. It can do everything from offering better product tracking systems to securing data behind an encrypted database.
Some of these prominent technologies include:
- Autonomous technology and robotics
- Blockchain systems
- The Internet of Things
These and more all offer supply chain managers benefits to safety and productivity. In turn, they can help a supply chain withstand even the most drastic of changes. With machines able to pick up some of the slack of a socially distanced workplace, tech may be the saving grace of supply chains in the modern era.
Bottom line
Across supply chains, leaders are planning for procurement disasters long after Covid-19 is forgotten by the public conscience. To best be prepared, supply chains must be made strong. By conducting risk assessments, implementing risk management policies, and taking advantage of all available technology you can strengthen your supply chains to meet any disaster head-on.
