“RESILIENT” OR “ROBUST” SUPPLY CHAIN?

“…Not one thing, nor the other, just the opposite” this is a popular phrase in my Country, DR, when it comes to a situation where both statements are true and valid, just depend on the circumstances.

I have read and heard a lot recently about the importance of “resilience” in Supply Chain, in fact I would say that it became a trending word, ….but how about having a “robust” supply chain on the first place?

First let us define “resilience” and “robustness” in Supply Chain, so we are all in the same page. The first concerns the ability to return to normal operations after a disruption; the second concerns the ability to keep operations going during a crisis.

While lot of people think that there was no way to be prepared for a crisis like COVID19 and that no one could have ever foresee it, I’m a firm believer that by having “robusts” supply chain processes in place you could have kept your operations running and delivering to customers where and when they needed.

Of course it is also important the capability to be able to restore operations quickly if part of it is interrupted, however being robust enough to support crisis is for me the foundation upon you build all other strengths.

The obvious ways to achieve robustness, among many others, are:

-Having well defined SOPs,

-Risk Mngmt Plan,

-A Diversified Supplier Network,

-An efficient IBP process, and

- Great Suppy Chain Talents.

Franklin Matos

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 www.dhirubhai.net/in/franklinmatos

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