Protect Your Supply Chain with This Crisis Checklist

In 1998, NASA sent the Mars Climate Orbiter into space to study the planet at a height of 226 km with a minimum altitude of 80 km just to be safe. But just four minutes after insertion, the spacecraft disintegrated, wasting $193 million and countless man hours.  The cause? Unit conversion as a result of missteps in the process. 

Could the mishap have been prevented? Absolutely. Is process crucial to nearly every industry and activity? Most definitely.  In supply chain management (SCM), process snafus can lead to serious cost and damage at the detriment of the business’s reputation and future. We’ve designed a supply chain checklist to help ensure no process goes unchecked and your business stays protected. 

The Supply Chain ChecklistGlobal trade policies and supply dynamics can change on a dime. There’s no better example of this than the inefficiencies exposed in spring 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Luckily, the industry is learning from past mistakes to better prepare it for the future. Here are a few things you can do to mitigate the impact of supply chain crises:

• Adopt risk evaluation tools 

Even the smartest group of professionals is still prone to human error. Risk evaluation tools minimize errors with digital process flows that maintain compliance and keep you on track. Plus, a digital record allows you to track ethical practices using your suppliers’ ratings and certifications. 

• Map suppliers

Supply chains have become increasingly global. Map your entire grid for full visibility into where your supply chain stands at all times — no matter where your partners and vendors are located — for greater transparency and speed-to-market.

• Diversify vendors

Everyone wants access to the most reliable vendors. When you diversify your ecosystem, you not only welcome new solutions, but build in redundancies to correct errors and pivot quickly when needed.

• Understand critical vulnerabilities and take action to reduce risk

Understanding critical vulnerabilities in your supply chain means educating team members on important red flags to stop them in their tracks. A successful team is a communicative one that can collaborate regularly and raise concerns early and often.

• Credentialing of supply chain participants 

Know who you’re working with and how they’ll perform in critical moments. Credentialing allows you to score vendors, factories, and mills on their compliance, sustainability, and execution so you can ensure the most ethical and visible supply chain. By building transparency with all stakeholders, you’ll be able to reduce time and costs spent on subsequent vendor and supplier management. 

• Digitize supply chain for transparency, speed, and agility 

The number one way to protect against supply chain mishaps? Go digital. SCM is historically complex, but automation and digital workflows take the manual work out of the equation, preventing human error and saving you time. Plus, supply chain digital transformation gives you the critical data you need to visualize your entire ecosystem, plan better, and optimize existing processes.

Each of these safeguards can be performed on their own — either painstakingly by your team or through another vendor. But end-to-end supply chain software brings these capabilities together in one platform, making it easier to see a holistic picture of your operations and generating ROI faster. 

Don’t get stuck in the middle of the next large-scale crises. Prepare your team for whatever may come with total visibility and agility to keep you operational and your customers happy. 

The Suuchi GRID connects teams at every stage to eliminate siloed workflows and empower data-backed decision-making. Learn more about how it works, and request a demo today.