Coronavirus has brought supply chain risk management into many boardroom conversations. To understand risk, we must first understand how much visibility companies have into their facilities and their extended supplier networks.
It’s not much, says a study by Indago and TalkingLogistics. Many are flying blind in terms of how they connect important pieces of the puzzle to make decisions.
Their survey of supply chain and logistics professionals showed that:
- 91% have the most visibility to the physical locations of their Tier 1 supplier facilities. They know where ALL or MOST of them are located.
- In contrast, only 17% said they know where ALL or MOST of their Tier 3 supplier facilities are located
The voice of TalkingLogistics Adrian Gonzalez blogged about the importance of supply chain mapping in supply chain risk management – i.e., knowing where the manufacturing/production facilities of your suppliers (and their suppliers) are physically located, and which parts or materials are manufactured/produced at each location.
You can catch some of the comments and perspectives on the experiences of Indago members’ experiences with supply chain mapping in Adrian’s post here.
What about you? Is your business lacking in the visibility and collaboration department and, therefore, in need of better supply chain risk management? How would better supply chain collaboration help this — not just at the Tier 1 level but all the way up and down the value stream?
Supply Chain Collaboration Matters
- Are there data silos in your supply chain that often inflate the cost of good customer service?
- How would you like more assurance in having the right products in the right places at the right time? How would your customers like that?
- What if you could instantly run calculations and make informed inventory decisions based on a supplier promotion or impending price increase, supplier constraints, cost of acquisition, etc.?
If you’re not happy with your supply chain risk management strategy and would like more visibility in your operations, schedule a few minutes with one of our supply chain experts. We’ll show you how Blue Ridge improves visibility and collaboration to reduce risk in some of the world’s most complex supply chains.
