By now, we are sure that you have heard about it on the news, or maybe have seen it during your weekly grocery run, empty shelves in supermarkets across the country. The omicron wave, supply chain issues, and extreme weather conditions have strained several major grocers, and this crisis is starting to hit businesses everywhere close to home.
This unanticipated surge is evident in grocery chains nationwide as the virus continues to sicken workers, creating staff shortages as employees are calling out due to illness or required quarantine.
This chaos emphasizes the need of a strong supply chain that evolves with your growth.
What This Means For You
You want your business to grow, but if you don’t know how your supply chain management strategy will evolve with your company you might limit your potential.
After all, if your company is growing and your supply chain management doesn’t change to match its new size, things may eventually start to fall apart. When this happens, your customers will definitely notice and communicate this to their friends and social media —as we are currently seeing with many images of empty grocery shelves.
So if you’re looking for ways to upgrade your supply chain management as your company expands, you may want to try some of these strategies—because the right time to tighten your belt is not when your company is gaining market share.
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Make sure you have alternate vendors.
You’re growing. Are your vendors?
Remember that supply chain monitoring and improvements are a vital part of business, and if you use a lot of varying materials, supply chain management can become complicated.
Because the price of materials constantly fluctuates, supply chains must be monitored on a nearly daily basis to ensure that you’re getting the best product at the best price.
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Mitigate risk to help your supply chain management.
If you aren’t doing risk management when you’re updating and improving your supply chain, you haven’t really upgraded or improved much. The best way to manage risk is to be proactive.
This means while you have a supplier who is performing well and meeting all of the key performance indicators, it is critical to have a risk plan on what you will do if that supplier suffers a catastrophic event, financial issues, loss of key personnel or some other event which put at risk your ability to get product.
Every time you make a big change to your supply chain without also implementing a backup plan if something goes wrong, you may be weakening your chain instead of strengthening it.
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Continue to update how you analyze your data.
Are you running out of inventory?
Have you had production or technology problems?
Are the updates in your supply chain management system allowing you to know what’s going on in your supply chain at virtually every moment?
The problem may be in how you monitor, collect and analyze information. Here’s a question every company should be asking: Are we using data to make decisions —or merely to justify our decisions?
Companies need to be looking for a software or data services solution that can provide the right data in real time, so their key performance indicators can alert them to potential problems long before it results in an inventory shortage or other serious situation. Keeping up with data is crucial for supply chain management, whether it’s going through an update or not.
We have to use precise forecasting of our sales and projects, in order to really dig in on our supply chain needs and think five steps ahead. A lot of this isn’t necessarily from crunching numbers, but rather having regular clients and talking to them.
If you don’t want the tables turned on you, consider looking for ways to upgrade your supply chain as your company expands.
Final Thoughts
The larger your company gets, the more you have to invest in your supply chain management to keep your executives, employees, suppliers and customers happy.
While there was no way anyone could have specifically predicted the Covid-19 pandemic and its lasting impact on businesses and their operations, it shows that maintaining a “reactive” approach, as opposed to a “proactive” approach, renders you defenseless in the middle of a battlefield.
With demonstrated success in supply chain management among various industries, we can help you in any of your planning services, such as supply chain evaluation, optimization, audits, and performance. Contact our team at MCDA CCG, INC. (headquartered in Placentia, Orange County, California) for a no-obligation discussion-by phone or online-and let us tell you how we will help you see unlimited growth potential with a robust supply chain that can grow with you.
We Need Your Vote!
Last month, we shared that our MCDA CCG, Inc. was named by the Orange County Business Journal as a 2021 Companies That Care Honoree for Employer of the Year. In a time of severe staffing shortages driven by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Great Resignation, we are extremely honored to be recognized particularly in this category. If you have 10 seconds to spare, we ask that you please click the survey link and cast in your vote for MCDA CCG as Employer of the Year.
Voting lasts until January 24th, we appreciate your votes in advance!
Survey link: Excellence In Placentia 2022
Follow us on Instagram to see who wins! @mcdaccginc
Other MCDA CCG Resources You May Like…
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Master Supply Chain Segmentation