• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • 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
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Blogs » Think Tank » Here's What a Post-Covid Supply Chain Review Looks Like

Think Tank
Think Tank RSS FeedRSS

Business Strategy Alignment / Global Supply Chain Management / Supply Chain Security & Risk Mgmt

Here's What a Post-Covid Supply Chain Review Looks Like

Supply chain worker
Photo: Bloomberg
July 28, 2021
Dan Weinberger, SCB Contributor

Organizations have faced a slew of challenges in the past year, from material shortages to logistics bottlenecks and volatile swings in demand. More than 90% of Fortune 1000 companies say they’ve suffered supply chain disruptions, according to a report by accounting firm KPMG LLP. 

Now, many businesses are reexamining their supply chains and looking for ways to increase efficiency, productivity and resilience. 

Total Reboot

Organizations have started to recover from the major disruptions due to the pandemic, but supply chain leaders have no intention of resorting back to their old ways with their supply chains lacking visibility and resilience.

In the second half of 2020, McKinsey & Co. surveyed 60 senior supply chain leaders from a variety of industries around the world. The survey asked how the pandemic impacted their operations and future strategies to make their supply chains more flexible and agile. Here are the responses:

McKinsey & Co. survey

Despite the negative impacts and disruptions, the pandemic has given enterprises an opportunity to revamp and vastly improve their supply chain. This is a direct result from the pandemic greatly magnifying the problems with many organizations’ supply chains resulting as a catalyst to implement the necessary changes. 

It's important now to focus on the customer-centric, data-powered, digital technologies that many companies have been slow to adopt due to legacy system compatibility issues and fragmented efforts.

The future success of supply chains will depend on a strong, purpose-built strategy that encompasses several key areas:

  • Human resources (HR). It’s necessary to keep updating the skills of workers to keep up with the changing dynamics of the digitized supply chain, improving resilience.
  • Regulations. Staying up to date on industry regulations helps to address risks in the supply chain. 
  • Service delivery model. Optimize service delivery by aligning processes with industry centers of excellence.
  • Technologies. Advanced technology solutions can provide complete visibility into the supply chain and end-to-end automation. Examples include automation, smart tracking, predictive analytics, blockchain, the internet of things and machine learning.. 
  • Performance indicators and real-time data. Tracking KPIs with real-time data quickly identifies any weak areas.

McKinsey & Co. survey

It’s helpful to break down a supply chain’s external and internal components into focused improvement areas. To get started, here’s a comprehensive list. 

Demand

  • Revamping operations planning, sales and integrated business planning as customers resume their orders. 
  • Prioritizing according to product demand and profitability — consider customer preference.
  • Building a model around the demand plan, risks, actions, issues and dependencies. 

Suppliers and Sourcing

  • Anticipating shortages of necessary materials or supplies.
  • Updating supplier agreements, SLAs and schedules.
  • Creating opportunities for strategic collaboration with major suppliers.

Inventory

  • Inventory planning and replenishment strategy according to real-time demand.
  • Building a multi-layer inventory model to purchase raw materials based on inventory planning. 
  • Setting up a system to monitor and manage inventory.

Workforce

  • Collaborating with the HR department to identify hiring needs and roll out safety guidelines.
  • Building responsive processes and staffing models to take on another potential wave of COVID-19. 
  • Implementing relevant technologies to track workers’ proximity, such as distance bracelets and contract tracing.

Production Assets

  • Increasing efficiency of production/distribution centers and operational workflows. 
  • Tracking daily demand and supply needs to align production targets. 
  • Doing health checks for major production assets – accounting for current restrictions that affect travel, repair or maintenance.

Distribution and Logistics

  • Pre-arranging secure transportation. 
  • Reviewing contracts for third-party providers — do they offer recovery support options and adjusted SLAs as needed? 
  • Reviewing logistics networks and trade routes for any backlog at ports.

Dan Weinberger is chief executive officer of Morpheus Network.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Wake up to live
“Supply Chains in Crisis”
updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • 0620_NFT.png

    Can NFTs Be an Effective Tool for Supply Chain Visibility?

    Technology
  • The Craft Beer Boom: How to Satisfy Changing Consumer Tastes

    Shortages of Beer, Popcorn Join Supply Chain Crisis

    Global Supply Chain Management
  • FedEx

    FedEx Faces Big Changes as New Boss Confronts Higher Costs, Angry Contractors

    Last Mile Delivery
  • 0621_Burrito.png

    Chipotle Zeroes in on Supply Chain Traceability and Visibility

    Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
  • cyber crime

    The Cyber Blind Spot That Makes Every Supply Chain Vulnerable

    Regulation & Compliance

Digital Edition

Scb may 2022 sm

2022 Supply Chain ESG Guide

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • 3PL Doubles Productivity With Robots to Fulfill Medical Supply Orders

  • E-Commerce Company Cuts Order Fulfillment Time by 40%

  • Fashion Retailer Halves Fulfillment Time With Omichannel Automation

  • Distributor Scales Business by Integrating Warehouse Automaton Software

  • Fast-Growing Fashion Brand Scales E-Commerce Fulfillment With Whiplash

Visit Our Sponsors

Yang Ming Alithya Barcoding
Blue Yonder BNSF Logistics Generix
GEP GreyOrange Here
Honeywell Intelligrated IFM Inmar
Keelvar Kinaxis Korber
Liberty SBF Locus Robotics Logility
Lucas Systems Nvidia Old Dominion
ORTEC Parsyl QIMA
Redwood Logistics Saddle Creek Logistics Schneider Dedicated
Setlog Holding AG Ship4WD Shipwell
Tecsys TGW Systems Thomson Reuters
Tive Trailer Bridge Vecna Robotics
Verity
  • 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 ©2022 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