Will this COVID-19 Pandemic Change Supply Chains Forever?
The answer is yes. According to a recent Talking Logistics article,
“With modernized workflows and new technologies and techniques adopted, there’s no going back.”
COVID-19 will forever change supply chains in these 4 ways:
Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management is now an urgent C-suite discussion. Supply chain visibility and logistics are taking a front-row seat in the overall business strategy. There’s an urgent need to optimize supply chains to maintain operations, contain costs and keep businesses flowing.
Business Continuity
Business continuity is intertwined with supply chain strategy. Organizations will establish multiple sources for material and manufacturing – and we may see production shifting back to domestic sources. Contingency inventory, logistics network redundancy and multiple supplier agreements will rise. And new safety considerations for truck drivers, carriers, receivers and other frontline personnel will bubble up in the priority list.
Inventory Management
Increasing inventory management and manufacturing flexibility. Organizations are looking for solutions to avoid inventory shortfalls and enhance speed to market. They are looking for partners to support distribution, streamlined logistics, supply chain network visibility, and other transportation technology.
Carrier Strategy and Logistics Partnerships
Enhancing carrier strategy and logistics partnerships. Shippers will want to know which logistics partners had their back. Who provided advanced technologies and modernized workflows to strengthen their operations during the pandemic?
Which ones came to the table with technology that enabled the greatest 'survivability'?
What About Supply Chain Planning?
Yep, that too will change forever.
Advanced supply chain planning solutions have built-in components to ensure real-time visibility and collaboration. They leverage supply chain analytics so organizations can make better decisions, faster around inventory – their most expensive asset.
Supply chain planning solutions bring the flexibility and computational power organizations will need, both now and in the post-pandemic world, to drive value through a number of areas, including:
- Being able to forecast accurately, even with unforecastable lead times
- Understanding supplier constraints, minimum order quantities and deal opportunities
- Managing overstock transfers (in the case of a regional DC shutdown)
- Economically filling trucks by moving inventory between locations or back to the hub
- Adapting to rising ecommerce threats
- Fixing synchronization gaps in S&OP processes, including pricing inconsistencies
Learn More About SCP Solutions
If you'd like to be more prepared for the next supply chain disruption (large-scale weather event, political uncertainty such as tariffs, etc.), click here. A Supply Chain Planning solution uniquely integrates demand forecasting, supply planning, inventory allocation, replenishment and strategic investment opportunities. In a unified platform, enabling you to get inventory and demand in sync everywhere.
SCP delivers a complete demand and supply plan fully optimized for economics, yet built to consider your unique supply chain rules and constraints.
Seamlessly review, identify and manage demand exceptions while using Blue Ridge Integrated Business Planning (IBP) to collaborate seamlessly across business units.
Add Blue Ridge Price Optimization software to SCP to proactively simulate the financial outcome of price changes. The result is untapped accuracy, ordering and inventory positioning, fewer lost sales, and tighter coordination across Sales, Operations, Logistics, Finance and suppliers.
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