Arlene Wherrett, Vice President & Managing Director for Sage Asia, shares tips on how to mitigate the challenges businesses are facing due to the current pandemic and restore some form of continuity amidst these challenging times.
Diversify Risks: Source from multiple suppliers, both locally and abroad
The learning here is to avoid relying on simply one or two suppliers.
Instead, have multiple approved suppliers for each of the items for procurement, and ensure that some of them are closer to home whilst others could still be kept in emerging countries.
As we can see today, disruption can happen in different geographies at different times.
Whilst many companies will continue to look to China as their primary supplier, it would be prudent to consider a new ‘China +1’ strategy to minimise disruptions in the future.
Adopt Technology: Gain visibility into the operation and supply chain
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications that integrates all facets of a company whilst connecting customers and suppliers have never been more crucial.
ERP helps business leaders to identify supply chain exposure and manage or mitigate risks, thus reducing the impact of disruptions.
First Moves: Be prepared for the market rebound
The ability to look forward and prepare for a rebound is a trait that will separate companies that can thrive post-crisis from ones that will fail to do so.
Manufacturing companies that are able to move more quickly than their competitors may capture a larger share of the pent-up demand, solidify their relationships with their most important customers and even gain some new ones.
Future Proofing: It cannot be an afterthought
There is no guarantee that the pandemic will come to a complete end in the near future, or that such outbreaks will not occur again.
Having a business continuity plan for your supply chain is a good start.
Manufacturing companies, especially, will need to have agility in their supply chain to adjust for business resiliency in the ‘new normal’ post COVID-19.
Read the full article here.
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