SC&B Blog Q2 2023

 What is Supply Chain Resilience?

A business faces many seen and unseen disruptions. Some originating from known factors, some finding its inception beyond human accountability (read: natural disasters, epidemic). During such challenges, an organization’s value chain resilience shines through, which helps it navigate the bottlenecks and react to the matters at hand faster. This all happens without any significant impact on the operations and production timelines.

The benefits of a resilient supply chain translate into an enterprise's firewall tactics and aid it in recovery. This includes proactive planning and anticipating the possible market opportunities that might turn up. An SCM that actively invests in resiliency & foresightedness builds itself to the ranks of modern supply chain supremacy. And to achieve such a distinct virtue, one needs to know what builds a resilient supply chain.

There can be many routes to building a resilient supply chain. Every one of these routes works on the basic principles of transparency, collaboration, data sharing, and more. In addition, a SCM needs to constantly update its current processes and practices to be more adaptable. It becomes imperative for a leadership team to be on a constant lookout for the latest tech that helps the entire value chain process evolve with time, market requirements, and user experience. Below are pointers on what constitutes designing a resilient supply chain.

• Visibility Siloed processes always result in delayed decisions, eventually costing the organization financial hiccups. Setting a foundation with visibility helps stakeholders know the process from inventory to last-mile delivery. Such transparency also leads to increased customer satisfaction. Visibility initiates real-time knowledge sharing that drives faster turnaround time in case of disruptions and ensures smooth workflow for the entire supply chain.

• Collaboration A supply chain is teamwork. Management hires experienced heads to get complete accountability for the value chain processes involved. More importantly, navigating a bottleneck under supply chain duress needs smooth channels where confidence in decision-making is the first & foremost requirement. With collaboration, timely decisions can benefit faster response, eradicating adverse outcomes.

• Data Transparency Data sets the backbone for every process. If the data is vetted, then it helps leadership set crucial KPIs that transform into eventual action plans. Such data transparency also enables continuous monitoring & evaluation of the framework deployed. Not to mention, from the holistic development objectives of an organization (i.e., sustainability), data can churn out necessary insights.

•  Sourcing Plan Organizations with diversified suppliers across the demography have a better ecosystem that can accommodate flexibility in the face of disruptions and scalability in times of relevant market opportunities. This bolsters the efficiency of a value chain that always fares well with customer expectations by being an all-season mechanism powered by reliable suppliers.

• Modernization of Process While it may be a slow road from traditional to modern supply chain practices, it pays off through faster processes, a centralized database, quick reaction to challenges, and better coordination of internal activities. In the age of relevant technologies nullifying severe delays in the framework, upgrading infrastructure is the way to go.

Once the pillars of supply chain resiliency are defined, the next step is to measure the effectiveness of the entire process. And to gauge the final result, three core metrics are laid out.

• Contingency Plan Resiliency response often comes in the face of questions laid down by disruptions. This effectively keeps a business running by cutting a few corners, majorly focused on the financial front. This step involves an organization keeping away from its usual production calls and testing its grit in the face of bottlenecks and uncertainties. A resilient framework efficacy shines through for how long it can incubate a supply chain from a market's ill effect.

• Recovery Post a contingency plan, a leadership sits out to ideate on getting back the lost business that might have impacted the eventual revenue goals. The shorter the recovery time, the better the company's chance to resume its normal proceedings at full tilt.

• Performance Post Contingency While a contingency plan and recovery go one after the other, the gradual performance of a supply chain gets identified with pre-disruption and post-disruption timelines. The impact of an unprecedented event (read: natural disasters or a pandemic) results in changing decisive factors like user consumption behavior, economic conditioning, and more. Such indicators help define the gradual functioning of the supply chain, training it to be more astute and responsible in the face of untimely occurrences.

Enterprises with a resilient supply chain framework have an edge in navigating turbulent market scenarios. This also contributes to adapting strategies in accordance with the need. Investment in a flexible value chain is of utmost importance, considering customer gratification in the era of competition being short-lived and another disruption just around the corner. Connect with Supply Chain and Beyond and 3SC to know how we can help you sideline potential loss of business in the face of a supply chain anomaly.

A sustainable supply chain represents a company’s operation framework that aligns its environmental, social, and economic impact across every value chain process. This involves accounting for carbon footprints and implementing strategies that benefit nature and its inhabitants. From a management perspective, this covers keeping track of every process, right from raw material procurement to transportation.

But before we delve into the ‘How’  factor, we first need to know ‘Why’  precisely the importance of sustainability in the supply chain is gaining much traction.

We are all collective citizens sharing a single address for human life form existence. With governing bodies and global organizations signing off legislation to focus on sustainability – companies across demography are finding ways to get their end-to-end value chain functioning close to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) norms.

In context to the brand calling factor, customers also look for sustainably produced final products that align with their ethical buying practices.

Moreover, with enterprises opting for a go-green foundation, it also opens up many possible partnership opportunities for the company's management that make them more scalable and double down on the financial parameters of gradual investment and overall ROI. These titular actions also bring awareness at a larger scale and play a pivotal role in solidifying a company's stand to its green objectives. A green supply chain also improves productivity big time by resourcing techniques that take a minimal toll on Earth's natural resources and extend by involving every stakeholder right from internal (employees) to external (vendors, contractors) on ethical practices that push the overall collective effort from a conglomerate.

If one has to note down the bullet points on the going sustainable, this is how it will pan out:

• Benefits Environment
• Makes the Supply Chain More Visible
• Enhances Value Chain Resiliency
• Improves Brand Value
• Financially More Rewarding w/ potential opportunities

By looks, it might seem an enormous task, but if planned well, setting the working framework of a sustainable value chain can be a simplified process. And it all starts by knowing the scale of the operation. Here's the essential check box to be kept in mind when initiating sustainability in a modern supply chain.

• Identifying Sustainability Goals & Objectives A SCM must know what exactly are the actual goals that they are vying for. The goal setting should be in context to its financial prowess, skilled and non-skilled resources, and scalability potential. This eventually helps management jot down the requirements essential for their environmental-first growth.

• Creating Sustainable Policy The next eventual step is to underline the sustainable policies that are non-negotiable for both the internal & external stakeholders. This blueprint acts as a baseline for the eventual course of action the enterprise is targeting, from ethical sourcing to employing rightful work practices, using renewable energy, and proper waste management.

• Evaluate Your Current Processes Evaluating your standing supply chain structure will help leadership decide to upgrade the individual processes or completely overhaul the entire value chain functioning. This step helps management be better positioned to initiate its action plans with the latest tech, skills, and guidelines.

• Collaborate For any strategic action to bear results, collaboration is a non-negotiable trait. Synonymous with a continuously improving process, collaboration helps an organization yield better results by aligning all the key stakeholders accountable by measuring relevant KPIs.

• Monitor & Adapt Finetuning any process involves constant learning. Monitoring performance and adapting on the go holds the key to efficient performance. Such regular reviews help Supply Chain Management know areas where investment has to be made. It simply maximizes the supply chain potential with its context to its environment first approach.

The relevance of being up to date with ethical and sustainable practices not only gives a business an edge over its competitors but also positions itself as a proactive organization looking to contribute back to the planet it thrives on. Supply Chain and Beyond and 3SC, with its offerings, catalyzes an enterprise's intent of making its supply chain more sustainable with its analytically driven innovative value chain solutions. With its cohesive approach keeping a company's financial & environmental objectives aligned, 3SC is your ideal partner on your journey to carbon-neutral functioning.