It’s a question that many global supply chain decision-makers face: what can I do to help with reducing the risk of global supply chain disruptions?
Unfortunately, no one can predict an unfortunate event that will cause a disruption in the supply chain. But there are specific steps that supply chain leaders can take to help minimize the potential damage of an eventual disturbance.
Create a More Resilient Supply Chain to Reduce Risk
The mantra for supply chain leaders in today’s globally-connected supply chain is to build resilience. And when you think you have created a resilient supply chain, look for more ways to optimize resiliency! Here’s how.
It’s All About Agility
Supply chain disruptions can occur for many reasons. Take the pandemic of 2020, for example. It resulted in tremendous disruption to the global supply chain due to sudden lockdowns and restrictions. We’ve also seen supply chain problems stemming from weather events, strikes, material shortages, and geopolitical issues.
Companies must improve agility to mitigate their exposure to supply chain disruption due to these types of unforeseen events. This effort means faster responsiveness to situations that occur with little warning and resiliency for withstanding the challenges that a long-term shift in supply or demand can cause.
It starts with having end-to-end visibility with suppliers and carriers. That way, if a disruption does occur, you’ll be in the know and able to act accordingly.
Furthermore, it’s important to set performance metrics and KPIs for suppliers, carriers, and other partners so that you can quickly identify when something isn’t going as expected and uncover opportunities for improvement.
Hold Stakeholders Accountable
When a possible disruption is identified, your team should practice accountability and communication with all stakeholders to get everyone on the same page and move ahead as a cohesive unit. The quicker the decision-makers can identify a potential issue and start problem-solving, the better equipped they are to reduce any long-term effects or delays.
Having backup suppliers can also help to reduce risks in the supply chain. In certain scenarios, it can provide a much-needed buffer in case of an unforeseen event that disrupts operations. Plus, having multiple suppliers to alternate between when necessary can help to increase competition and enable companies to negotiate better prices, improving cost efficiency.
Consider Onshoring When Possible
Regionalizing supply chains can also build resilience and contribute to a more responsive supply chain risk management strategy.
By having suppliers or manufacturing facilities located closer to the end customer, you can better control how they respond to potential disruptions. As a result, you can better protect the supply chain from potential delays and other issues often stemming from overseas shipments in global supply chains.
Communication is Key
Disruptions in the supply chain touch many areas of a company. Without accurate data and internal and external communication, a company cannot operate efficiently.
In order to reduce the risk of disruption, it’s crucial to have a robust communication strategy in place. For instance, buyers need to know that their materials are inbound from suppliers so that inventory, warehousing, and production can have goods on hand to fill the demands of their clients. A disruption in any of these areas can cause a backlog in production or create delays for customers.
Proper and real-time communication is also needed for planners to forecast, sales and marketing professionals to meet demand, and business teams to properly manage resources. A strong communication strategy can help decision-makers quickly identify a disruption and respond to the problem.
CloudLogix Can Help with Reducing the Risk of Supply Chain Disruptions
Utilizing an end-to-end supply chain visibility platform like CloudLogix is another way companies can better identify, mitigate, and respond to potentially costly disruptions.
CloudLogix provides a global view of your supply chain, giving you the information and insights you need to quickly assess potential supply chain risks and reduce the impact of supply chain disruptions.
The platform comes with built solutions that centralize and socialize data for use by internal and external customers. From order to receipt, CloudLogix provides visibility for buyers and suppliers to manage and purchase inventory more efficiently:
- Centralized data
- Simplified communication
- Detailed transaction information
- Integrations with carriers for tracking, tracing, and billing
Having the ability to react to current conditions is essential to reduce risk. Gaining access to real-time visibility supports proactive exception management to keep the supply chain flowing, reducing the risk of supply chain disruptions.
Let Us Help You Transition to a Smarter Supply Chain
With CloudLogix on your side, your company can transition from worrying about external disruptions to strengthening internal processes, systems, and technology. As your partner in supply chain risk management, we can help you reduce risk and maximize efficiency.
CloudLogix was built by logisticians to help harmonize the different silos in an organization and enable supply chain leaders to access crucial information when and where they need it.
Our team’s background in logistics has given us experience with today’s critical supply chain challenges. That experience led us to build a solution to address the inefficiencies that exist in many supply chains.
First, we consult with our clients to identify any particular problems they may be experiencing and determine if our solution is best suited to help solve those issues. After an initial discovery phase, we outline strategies that we can deploy to address those concerns. If we all agree that there is a fit, we engage in an exercise to configure the solution to meet those needs.
One of the best benefits of utilizing CloudLogix is the platform complements your current ERP or operating system. Our team can also customize the platform to address any problem that may be unique to your operations. As a result, we provide your decision-makers with the ability to respond quickly and effectively to supply chain disruptions.
Contact us today to schedule a consultation with our team. We’ll provide more information on how CloudLogix can help you better insulate your company from disruption. We look forward to hearing from you soon and bringing you one step closer to a smarter and more efficient supply chain.
