And The Covid Supply Surprises Continue
After 20+ years of working in Supply Chain, 2020 and 2021 have been the most challenging years to date. All the areas we supply chain professionals try to minimize- costs, lead times, constraints, rigidity, quality problems- have all increased and been ever more complex to manage. Partner that with the agility and speed to market required by Retailers and Customers alike, it makes for a very demanding environment to produce and deliver.
If you and your supply are still going as you read this- CONRGATULATIONS! You have arrived into a whole new level of advanced Supply Chain processes. Whether you wanted to or not- you probably have been constantly changing your plans and reacting to volatility and sudden requirements. Difficult, taxing and nonstop.
During all this, it became ever more apparent that small to mid-size businesses are the ones who are struggling the most. Without the buying power of the ‘big guys’ and the immense resources in place to apply hours and heads to the analytics needed control of inventory, small to mid-size businesses are being bombarded by supply chain disruptions.
The supply chain environment is currently extremely complicated (possibly the most complicated in our lifetime). Time is limited and new issues are popping up daily. If reading this is stressing you out, let us offer some hope. First, when we get to the other side of this, normal supply chain will seem easy! Second, if you can manage to adapt and thrive in this environment, you are poised for anything the market will throw at you.
As this is the first article for our company, L’Gato Analytics, let us share with you two of the most essential supports to succeeding through this:
Partnering with ALL of your supply base. Your suppliers need to be extensions of your business, your TEAM.
Visibility through analytics. You cannot prevent a problem you can’t see and you can’t fix it unless you understand truly what caused it (hint- it’s never human error).
So- for now- hang in there, support and thank your Team, and remember you have already made it this far.