How to keep Your Supply Chain Intact during the COVID-19 Crisis?

The COVID-19 crisis’s adversely impacted both big/small logistics supply chains or networks poses them with several risks, even shutdowns, if not prudently taken care of. The existing chains/networks have to be optimized, making them more agile, mitigate risks better, and to achieve full-scale visibility.

So it calls for:

• More flexibility in supply chain service networks to minimize the risk of disruption in times of stress
• Better investments improve supply chain resilience and plant outputs that accomplish enhanced customer satisfaction
• Advanced analytics implemented in logistics documentation and logistics management is crucial for improvement

The coronavirus outbreak slowed or ceased global supply chains and due to immense pressures being built up daily with uncertainties over recovery plans, supply chain reliability, and associated risks. A judicious alternative would be in making investments that are highly capable of restoring resilience

Companies have already started doing the same to meet the unprecedented market demands, and for sustaining their significant competitive edge.

Proven Investments that build Competitive Advantage for Logistics Supply Chain

• Deployment of cloud-based technology that grants real-time information on production and external demand
• Generate insights through advanced analytics for making the right decisions, quickly, by using digital tools for contingency preps
• Creation of databases to visualize supply networks for each commodity
• Flexible or automated (Robotic Process Automation or RPA) supply chain service models allows extensive personalized for expanding output capacity through expedited and optimized processes

The Potential Competence Measures to Implement

Agile Networking

The ability to quickly adapt for disruptive change is done using flexible, digital ecosystems – mainly, Industry 4.0 tools. These revolutionary tools (IoT, AI implemented robotics/automation, big data, and plenty more) will help slash and optimize costs and provide enhanced visibility across supply chain service networks for process expedition, adaptability, and augmented performance. It also means that you should have nearby alternative plants or business sites situated in core markets rather than the offshore ones.

Digital Competence

Cloud-based logistics supply chain applications, collaborative platforms, and tools can process voluminous data, enhancing quality-packed information sharing for making speedy decisions among all involved parties, securely. Also, this gives greater visibility through the implementation of automation and robotics technologies for logistics management that will ensure business continuity.

Real-time Network Visibility

5G and blockchain technology can be integrated for achieving real-time and in-depth insights, or generate forecast reports. With supply chain data integrated across entire logistics networks using a centralized point, companies can calibrate their logistics operations, as per customer demand.

Big Data Analytics

Artificial intelligence’s (AI) machine learning (ML) capabilities can provide meaningful and in-depth big data analytics from the sources of all involved parties. The predictive and prescriptive analytics can generate or model risk scenarios with preprogrammed responses or prompt alerts very early.

Qualified Teams

By deploying specific authority to the respective teams at different supply chain points, you can have a better response and control of the entire supply chain activities. This is also applicable to the insights generated through advanced analytics for expediting and streamlining processes.

With proper investment in the frontier, digital technologies and implementation of flexible logistics documentation, logistics management, etc., supply chain companies can powerfully handle the logistics and global economic shocks brought by the Covid-19 outbreak. All vulnerabilities will have gradual and progressive elimination and is an investment into the future of the domain. So it is wise to start investing today in resilient systems for achieving maximum cost optimizations and operational cost-savings and a competitive edge.