As a business owner, one of the most important challenges you might face is supply chain disruptions. If you are a newbie business owner, you might have to brace for these disruptions in the course of your business operations. Are you wondering what supply chain disruptions are? It is the process where a disturbance happens in the production, sale, or final delivery of goods to your customers.
Navigating supply chain disruptions requires you to understand the exact problem and come up with innovative solutions that cater to the uncertain times of today. Events or trends like huge, forecasted demands for a particular product, natural disasters, stock-out issues, manpower issues and logistical delays are some of the common issues that lead to supply chain disruptions in your business.
5 effective strategies for navigating supply chain disruptions
Here are some supply chain disruption solutions that you may implement in your routine business operations. These strategies will help you achieve your business goals, and keep your stakeholders satisfied at all times.
Using technology to map your supply chain
If you want to make your supply chain resilient and resistant to disruptions, the first step towards navigating supply chain disruptions is to use technology to map your supply chain into it. Mapping your supply chain helps you measure the performance of all the processes in the cycle, identify all types of risks and get improved visibility of your suppliers.
Having good control over your suppliers and their processes is one of the most effective supply chain disruption solutions you can implement in your business. Mapping your supply chain helps you with exactly that!
Using automated inventory management tools
Lack of proper management of inventory can be one of the most important causes of supply chain disruptions in your business. You can easily correct this and make your supply chain more effective by using technology to take care of your inventory. These automated tools help you with almost accurate forecasts of sales and demand.
This enables you to buy surplus stock of a product that has a great demand value to avoid out-of-stock issues. Getting unsold stock out of your warehouses can also be managed efficiently using good inventory management software, thereby overcoming most of the challenges in the supply chain management of your business.
Having better collaboration with your suppliers
Navigating supply chain disruptions requires you to have a strong collaboration with your suppliers and their processes. The potential risks they may face, and the way they conduct their operations may have a strong impact on your supply chain cycle.
Today, more and more customers are demanding sustainably produced products. So, as a business owner, it would be a good idea for you to understand the sustainable practices of your suppliers, as it involves the satisfaction of all your stakeholders. How ethical is their supply chain? What are their labour policies? Do they need some support from your side when it comes to supplying sustainable goods or services? Getting answers to these questions will help you very well manage if not completely get rid of most supply chain disruptions in your business.
Knowing the latest legislation
One of the key supply chain disruption solutions you have to implement right away in your business is to stay updated on all the latest laws and legislations of the geographies that matter to your business.
What do the laws say about the transparency of business operations in your particular country? How often should you conduct a vulnerability audit or due diligence for navigating supply chain disruptions? Does your supply chain follow the labour laws of the country of your business operation?
Answers to these questions will help you identify the challenges in supply chain management and devise proactive strategies to overcome them. Times are changing and quite uncertain today; legislation keeps changing frequently when it comes to running a business. Hence, we recommend you be abreast of the latest laws on supply chain management to avoid any disruptions.
Preparing for supply chain disruptions
The saying, “Prevention is better than cure” applies to all aspects of your life, including managing your supply chain cycle. You can succeed in navigating supply chain disruptions only if you anticipate them in advance.
Diversifying your supplier base, employing appropriate risk-management & and monitoring tools, keeping your product portfolio as simplified as possible, reviewing possible clogs in the supply chain and coming up with measures to mitigate these issues are some proactive measures you can employ in your business as part of effective supply chain disruption solutions.
Bottom Line
With the pandemic hitting us two years back, the way we conduct our business has undergone a sea change, indeed! In such fluctuating and uncertain times, it is best to embrace technology and the latest tools like AI-powered algorithms to automate your supply chain processes, assess risks, collaborate with suppliers and come up with highly practical solutions to get rid of all supply chain disruptions in your business.
