SupplyChainTalk: Building faster, smarter, and more resilient supply chains for time-critical products

Views on news 

Britain’s vital supply chains are unprepared for the prospect of a major shock such as war with Russia, and bold steps are needed to catch up with “worst-case scenario” planning by European states, ministers have been warned by the National Preparedness Commission (NPC).

 

It said that Britain is lagging behind other European countries when it comes to the stockpiling of supplies such as critical medicines and called for fresh thinking. Beyond stockpiling, it’s also key to examine how the nodes of the supply chain – or a cold chain – could react to crisis. This is important to assess because it’s impossible to find alternative suppliers if each of them uses the same nodes.   

 

From agile supply chain planning to rapid execution  

To improve their agility, FMCG brands must look at network design and transport agility not just as a supply chain themes but as a major factor driving customer experience. Even common items can get strategic in times of crisis if they become scarce. As a result, supply chain planning can’t prepare a company for any eventualities – it must focus on the business’s capability to pivot and its agility to move from one scenario to another, supported by more distributed and localised supply chains and buffer suppliers. S&OP and sales and operations execution must work very closely together.

 

Rather than focussing on historical data, planning must look at demand signals in real time to detect shifts. Winning supply chains’ strength is that they can strike the right balance between cost responsiveness and sustainability to avoid waste. Speed is not equally important for every product, though – you must only pay a premium where it’s critical. Visibility technology – dashboards, control towers and alert systems – is key to having a view of the supply chain in real time, but decision making and cross-functional execution must get orchestrated and agile too to enable acting on insights.

 

The panel’s advice 

• Supply chain must be on everyone’s agenda within the company.   
• The most predictable mode of transport is the railway – a warehouse on wheels.  
• Apart from FMCG and pharma, any product – even beverages – can be time critical if it burns company value by creating opportunity cost. 
• Build all the capabilities you need to deliver your targets – create a roadmap and get the data you must leverage.