COVID-19 has forever changed the way business operates. Business found out that their people could be efficient working from home and employers began to see opportunities to save money and encourage productivity. What did this look like for our supply chain? The pandemic disrupted trade flows across borders national and international. Stores such as Costco ran out of basic necessities such as toilet paper. International trade flows were disrupted from raw materials to getting finished goods to the consumer.
What are our lessons learned from this shock to our supply chains?
1. Conduct a Supply Chain Audit to fully understand all the moving parts of the supply chain including possible bottlenecks, risk areas, and classify that level of risk. Identify the players including suppliers, logistics, government agencies, and internal departments.
2. Develop a program to monitor your Supply Chain Risk, including contingency planning.
3. Look at alternative players. This includes diversifying your risk by having suppliers from different countries and possible alternative logistics groups for emergencies.
4. Focus on Compliance. Commit to regular audits and monitor new regulations that will impact your supply Chain.
5. Look at different models on getting your product to the consumer. This could include direct-to-consumer (DTC) model.
COVID-19 has shown business that our business as usual approach to Supply Chain Management must change. If companies want to continue to be successful in this new paradigm of pandemics they must look to leverage their production and logistics functions to create a more secure and agile future Supply Chain.
Andrea Holtan, June 2020
