Everyone knows that the supply chain is fragile these days. Disruptions are happening everywhere, and there are times when no one knows when or how they’re going to be fixed. But you can plan for them. What follows is a breakdown of the five most likely things that can impact your business’s supply chain, along with some information about how they happen, what they mean, and how to deal with them.
Technology Trends
Planning for technology changes isn’t easy. There are times when you need the foresight of an oracle and the knowledge level of a tech guru, and even that may not be enough. Simply put, you need to be up on the latest in planning and product allocation, and you need to know how it applies to your business.
Natural and Environmental Disasters
These seem to be growing more common by the day, especially as the impact of global warming and climate change continues to manifest. Companies are being taken to task for their carbon footprint, and those that aren’t paying sufficient attention may be contributing to supply chain issues. It’s important to have contingency plans built into your overall business plan when these disasters happen, and it’s also risky to do business with companies that are disregarding how important this issue can be to an effective supply chain.
Bad Planning and Forecasting
Tying future demand to past production via accurate forecasting is an important element of success for most businesses, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. It’s one of the things that can impact your business supply chain, and the better you are at it, the fewer disruptions you’ll have. Factors such as transportation management, facility capacity, and other basic elements of a company’s production network are changing all the time, and it’s important to understand how those changes will impact your supply chain.
Government Regulation Changes
There are many ways that government regulation changes can affect your supply chain. These can be nearly as disastrous as environmental catastrophes, given that the actions of the government are often wildly unpredictable. Taxes, trade restrictions, and labor laws are just a few of the things the government can change at the drop of a hat, and the way these changes impact the supply chain is often almost impossible to predict. Accurate guesswork is imperative, as is the ability to pivot on a dime.
Transportation Cost Changes
These are also unpredictable—witness the way that changes in fuel prices have impacted the supply chain at almost all levels. Similarly, freight and shipping changes can boost costs with no warning, and the subsequent disruptions in the supply chain can be both painful and difficult to anticipate.
