Global Supply Chains in A Post-Pandemic World

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is the stress test that caught most organizations by
surprise, and which offered very little time to prepare. Organizations have had to contend with
sharp spikes and declines in consumer demand, production downtime, and supply and transport
delays. The crisis has exposed the underlying complexities and vulnerabilities of global supply
chains and illustrated the importance of a well-functioning supply chain.

Challenges: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all the companies are facing significant
challenges to sustain in the volatile market environment. These include: shortage of critical
parts/materials, delayed shipments and longer lead times, difficulties in adjusting production
capacity in response to fluctuating demand, and difficulties in planning amidst high levels of
volatility in customer demand. All these cumulatively result in higher supply chain costs,
reduced coordination among the internal employees, and weak customer-supplier relationships.

Supply chain resiliency: In order to fight against these obstacles an industry needs to make the
supply chain resilient. There are many techniques to improve resiliency of the supply chain. A
resilient supply chain helps them to cope with the fallout of the crisis and recover from the
disruptions caused by the COVID-19. The resiliency in supply chain can enhance visibility
across the entire supply chain network, incorporate agility in the system and bring diversification
in business plans.

Big data: Organizations that want to ensure resiliency in their supply chain network can prepare
for it by augmenting some changes in their existing structures. For example, employing big data
analytics in the overall activities of the supply chain. Big Data analytics can help providing the
essentials to forecast, predict and plan for the upcoming risks before they occur. This helps in
managing disruptions in advance, rather than responding once they happen.

Safety stock: Another successful movement can be popularizing the concept of safety stock or
intermediate inventory. If alternate suppliers are not available immediately, a company should
recognize the market demand and try to keep extra stock in their inventory. Of course, safety
stock, like any inventory carries with it the risk of depletion and may incur losses if not used. It
runs counter to the concept of just-in-time replenishment and lean inventories.
Product variety and flexible manufacturing system: Finally, flexible manufacturing system
can be run parallel to the parent business. During the pandemic, there was a surge in demand of
many product categories, which the manufacturers struggled to shift from one place to the other,
or from making one product to another. Adding to this complexity, different retail chains also
wanted their own packaging and assortments. Companies should consider the pros and cons of
manufacturing different types of the same product.

Conclusion: To sum up, the economic disorder caused by the pandemic has exposed many
vulnerabilities in supply chain management systems throughout the world. Supply chain leaders
need to work on finding ways to make their business better and give themselves an advantage. It
is time to adopt to a new vision that is suitable for a new era – one that still leverages the
capabilities that resides around the world but also improves resilience and reduces the risks from
future disruptions that are certain to occur.