• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Library
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Watch: Are Supply Chains Ready for the Next Recession?
VIDEO

Watch: Are Supply Chains Ready for the Next Recession?

November 7, 2019
SupplyChainBrain

Are supply chains better prepared for an economic downturn than they were at the time of the last recession? Henry Canitz, product marketing director with Logility, assesses their current level of resilience.

SCB: Are supply chains better prepared now, versus the last recession of 2008, for what we all think is going to be the next big one?

Canitz: You would like to think so. Senior supply-chain practitioners have gone through four or five major recessions while they've been in the workplace, so you'd like to think they’ve learned a few things over that time. But if you look at some of the research that's been done recently, that's not necessarily the case. There are some indications that we haven't learned our lesson.

SCB: What does it mean to be prepared?

Canitz: The key is understanding your industry and what the effects of a potential downturn are going to be. Then you can try to predict when that's going to happen. We have much more data to draw on today. With our new analytics capabilities, we should be better prepared.

SCB: What's the difference between managing a supply chain in a growth period versus during a recession?

Canitz: In a growth period, it's all about satisfying the customer, making sure that we have enough inventory in place and are doing everything we can to satisfy the customer. Customer service is king. During a recession, cash is king. If you run out of cash, you're out of business. You’re still trying to satisfy the customer, but you also have to look at tradeoffs. Should we launch that new product? Should we build a new facility? We need to look at minimizing our total costs so we can survive the down period, when margins are tighter and we might be facing more competition in the markets we're in.

SCB: There’s a need to respond more quickly. How does that affect planning horizons? Are they getting shorter?

Canitz: They are. Speed is one of the biggest opportunities we have in the supply chain today, and it’s also one of the biggest challenges. We live in a 24 by 7 by 365 world. Customer expectations are higher than they've ever been. There's more information at the customer's fingertips as well, and design-to-customer cycle times are shrinking. According to research done by Gartner in 2018, the average was six months for a retailer, and four months for a manufacturer. In today's fast-paced business environment, six months seems like a long time. And if you have a competitor that's doing that in two months, you're going to be at a significant competitive disadvantage.

SCB: But you can't be agile unless you're aligned. You have to be able to propagate demand signals and planning efforts all the way up the supply chain. How good a job are companies doing these days at pulling that off?

Canitz: Companies are learning. They're doing a better job of that, but they still have a ways to go. There's still too much fragmentation in the systems they're using. There's a lot of value to be derived from consolidating data and looking across multiple horizons. With demand sensing, you're getting short-term information to augment the forecast. And you’re determining how to more effectively allocate inventory and capacity in your manufacturing plants.

SCB: “Demand sensing” suggests that we're getting into the area of execution as opposed to planning. I wonder if the boundaries between planning and execution are getting fuzzier all the time.

Canitz: I think you're right. We’ve been talking about it for quite a few years, but I think it's coming to fruition. Planning and execution have become much closer. I don't think you can separate the two and be effective today. You have to be able to propagate those plans through to execution. You've got to be able to use what's happening in execution to drive your plans. You can't wait to the end of the month or week. You can't even wait until the end of the day to react to disruptions in your supply chain. Execution is driving planning, and planning is driving execution.

SCB: How should companies be preparing now for the next recession?

Canitz: Investing in your ability to predict visibility and ensure the speed of your supply chain is critical. Speed is important whether you're in a growth environment or in a recession — even more so in a recession. Ask yourself as a practitioner: Do I feel like I have the capabilities to understand when that's going to happen for my company, and what the impact is going to be? Do I have analytics, what-if scenarios and risk-management capabilities, to help me come up with mitigation strategies in response to a recession?

SCB: The technology tools for planning are more sophisticated than they were 10 years ago. So assuming that companies avail themselves of these solutions, theoretically they should be doing a better job for that reason alone.

Canitz: They should. We have better analytical capabilities now. We have more data to look at, and better solutions to put the data through. You can do multiple what-if scenarios. You can run simulations that prepare you for a recession. But companies today also need to invest in the ability to manage data, because it’s doubling every 18 months, and getting to a point where humans just can't manage it anymore. You have to embrace digital transformation, so that you can focus not on the everyday task of running the supply chain, but on things that are outside of normal, and on creating value-added opportunities for the customer.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Supply Chain Planning & Optimization Supply Chain Security & Risk Mgmt
KEYWORDS SC Planning & Optimization SC Security & Risk Mgmt
  • Related Articles

    Are You Ready for the Next Supply-Chain Disaster?

    Are You Ready for the Next Supply-Chain Disaster?

    How Prepared Are Businesses for the Next Recession?

SupplyChainBrain

Truck Freight Volumes Continued Decline in Fourth Quarter — U.S. Bank

More from this author

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter!

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • DOCUMENTS BEARING THE INSIGNIA OF US CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION LIE ON A TABLE

    New CBP Regs Call for Greater Diligence by Brokers in Reporting Security Breaches

    Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
  • A WORKER IN A WAREHOUSE, SUPERIMPOSED WITH GRAPHICS SHOWING SUPPLY NETWORK

    Enabling Intelligent Visibility With Supply Chain Analytics

    Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
  • A GROUP OF WORKERS RANGED IN AN OFFICE, OF DIVERSE RACE, GENDER, AGE AND PHYSICAL ABILITY

    Podcast | The Supply Chain Workforce of the Future Is Already Here

    HR & Labor Management
  • A HAND TURNS A LARGE, LIGHTED DIAL WITH THE WORD RISK ON IT iStock-NicoElNino-1364371014.jpg

    Measuring KPIs and KRIs for Comprehensive Supplier Performance Management

    Technology
  • INSIDE A WAREHOUSE, TWO HANDS HOLD A TABLET COMPUTER SHOWING A MAP OF THE WORLD

    Five Ways to Increase Supply Chain Visibility

    Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)

Digital Edition

Scb nov 2022 sm

2022 Supply Chain Innovator of the Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • New Revenue for Cloud-Based TMS that Embeds Orderful’s Modern EDI Platform

  • Convenience Store Client Maximizes Profit and Improves Customer Service

  • A Digitally Native Footwear Brand Finds Rapid Fulfillment

  • Expanding Apparel Brand Scales Seamlessly with E-Commerce Technology

  • How a Global LSP Scaled its Security Program and Won More Business

Visit Our Sponsors

Orderful Yang Ming Alithya
Barcoding Blue Yonder BNSF Logistics
CoEnterprise Data Capture Deposco
E2open GAINSystems Generix
Geodis GEP GreyOrange
Here Honeywell Intelligrated IFM
Infor Inmar Keelvar
Kinaxis Korber Lean Solutions Group 2H
Liberty SBF Locus Robotics Logility
LogistiVIEW Lucas Systems MCA Connect
MPO Nvidia Old Dominion
OpenText ORTEC Overhaul
Parsyl PMMI QIMA
Redwood Logistics Ryder E-commerce by Whiplash Saddle Creek Logistics
Schneider Dedicated Setlog Holding AG Ship4WD
Shipwell Tecsys TGW Systems
Thomson Reuters Tive Trailer Bridge
Vecna Robotics Verity
Verusen
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright ©2023 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing