Supply chains

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As governments and healthcare agencies work to stop the spread of Covid-19 and to treat those who are infected, manufacturers in more than a dozen industries are struggling to manage the epidemic’s growing impact on their supply chains. Unfortunately, many are facing a supply crisis that stems from weaknesses in their sourcing strategies…In many cases, the roots of this current supply-chain crisis stem from decisions made far upstream — for example, sourcing a common plastic resin that is vital to several industries from one supplier or one region.

Such decisions cascade down through supply chains, even impacting companies who themselves don’t directly source materials or products from China but whose suppliers do. In some cases, it will not be possible to find multiple sources for certain parts or materials.

For example, a supplier may possess unique intellectual property; sometimes volumes aren’t sufficient to justify two sources; or multiple sources are simply not available… At a bare minimum, companies should invest in 24×7 monitoring of their global suppliers.

New technologies have made extensive supplier monitoring affordable and readily accessible. Just like we wouldn’t drive our car without insurance, we cannot run a globally dispersed supply chain in today’s fast-changing world without being in the know about everyday news that could cause disruptions in the coming days.

(From: “Coronavirus Is Proving We Need More Resilient Supply Chains”)

Read the complete article from Bindiya Vakil Etal at The Economic Times>>