How manufacturers can future-proof their supply chains

Advanced Manufacturing and Mobility Business Minute

Over the years, companies have committed to cost-effective, just-in-time supply chains. This lean and linear approach has been a successful strategy for limiting inventory and minimizing working capital. But as the erratic demand and unprecedented disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic take their toll, the lack of resiliency of modern supply chains is coming into greater focus. Granted, the current pandemic is one of the more extreme examples of disruption in recent history, it certainly isn’t the first and is unlikely to be the last. How can manufacturers reinvent supply chains that can flex under pressure without a total loss of cost-effectiveness? Further, how can they gain greater visibility to better anticipate and plan for the next disruptive event?

Key takeaways:

• Most traditional and modern supply chains do not have the capability to be very resilient or flex with a major disruption due to their linear nature.
• To build supply chain resiliency, manufactures should think through all the scenarios that can happen, review business continuity plans, look at just-in-time models, perform stress tests, and conduct an annual risk mitigation plan and review.
• Digital process mining and digital twins are powerful technology tools that can visualize the effects of disruptive events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and therefore help companies come up with contingency plans and achieve business continuity.