Examples Of Companies Balanced Resilience
Research by Yelp shows that 60% of the businesses which shut down their operations temporarily due to the Covid-19 pandemic went permanently out of business by September 2020. However, only some supply chain leaders who adopted intelligent resilience strategies just in time have managed to save their organizations from the global crisis, unlike most companies.
Here are a few successful companies that stood strong during and after the pandemic.
T-Mobile:
T-Mobile is among the top wireless carriers in the US, which stood among the essential services, and was required to run just 20 percent of its operations during COVID-19. The business analyst management team quickly developed a Power BI app to consolidate the information of the company’s nationwide workforce and work on its enterprise resource planning. The Power app helped T-Mobile streamline its operations among the employees, most of whom operated in virtual mode. The company witnessed a vast increase in its stock price during the crisis as it ran its business smoothly.
3M:
The American multinational conglomerate 3M, which produces safety and consumer goods, is a classic example of a resilient global supply network. To meet the ongoing demand for N95 masks, the company increased its production capacity in early 2020 by leveraging the surge capacity it maintained in the past few years to combat the SARS outbreak of 2003. As a result, it made $35.4 billion in total sales in 2021 and was ranked 102 in the highest revenue US companies’ Fortune 500 list.
Walmart:
One of the most successful global supply chains during the crisis was Walmart. It is an American retail corporation that operates in 24 countries. In India, it operates as Flipkart Wholesale. Amidst the coronavirus threat, which boosted online purchases, Walmart saw an increase of 10% in sales, mainly in groceries which saw substantial cost increases due to the dwindling supply. The retailer claims to have spent approximately $900 million in setting up the infrastructure required to meet the public demand for pickup and delivery of goods amidst social distancing restrictions. Its timely investment in groceries and resilient business model brought a revenue growth of $10.7 billion.
A strategic vendor consolidation partner can assist local supply chains in building resilient supplier networks with a strong supplier base and save them from the risk of economic and other disruptions.
Steps To Develop A Resilient Supply Chain
The current environment demands supply chain managers develop resilience in their network so that the business does not collapse due to any unpredictable situation. Here are a few steps for developing a solid supply base that enhances resilience.
Leverage technology:
You can look up to technology to solve most of your process glitches, minimizing costs and checking your inventory levels. Firstly companies should analyze their supply chains to identify the operational challenges and other areas of improvement. Look for functions that need automation by digitization. The development of software to track and manage resources, as done by T-Mobile, can bring greater visibility to the process and, consequently, greater efficiency. It is because automated dashboards, reports, and machine learning capabilities help spot data anomalies and forecast the highs and lows in demand and supply and any other possibility of disruption.
Diversify the supply chain:
It is wise for OEMs to rely on multiple suppliers instead of one company to ensure consistent supply assurance. Invest in additional suppliers and look for dual-sourcing options while maintaining good supplier relationships with your most trusted network to have ready suppliers for any new ventures you might undertake.
Introducing diverse suppliers into your supply chain can benefit companies in three ways:
- To increase the agility of their supply chain and make it resilient.
- To define their contribution in terms of social responsibility.
- Supplier diversity places companies at a competitive advantage as there would be price comparisons among the diverse suppliers.
You may work with a vendor consolidation partner with a strong sourcing division that can connect you with new suppliers for your procurement of raw materials and help you maintain strong relationships with them so that your production schedules remain unaffected amidst market shifts.
Maintain flexibility:
Flexibility can be achieved in the following ways.
- By adopting standardized procedures and components, organizations can gain the flexibility to relocate production among several production units, which follow a few generic steps. Also, following generic designs to an extent can allow for products to be reshaped into a different form for later use if the need arises. In short, it helps to stock inventory as a buffer capacity. Such harmony between the process and product components is best found in the automotive industry, which uses a recurrent platform to produce different products.
- Choosing suppliers geographically close to your business can facilitate more flexibility in switching between suppliers. This cost-effective strategy also increases operational efficiency.
- Adopting sustainable measures increases flexibility and resilience. Tesla’s supply chain, which transitioned to electric engines from internal combustion engines while keeping in mind the climate crisis, is a good example.
- Regular communication among a firm’s employees also helps them be flexible in switching between tasks and following best practices.
The Best Vendor Consolidation Partners You Can Rely Upon
Violin Technologies are contract manufacturers who could also be your most-preferred strategic supplier partners. They help with engineering staffing which comprises project-based services and augmentation of the supply chain workforce to meet your business goals. So, why delay in making the right move?!
Priyamvada
About the Author
Priyamvada B admires Nature, loves painting and takes interest in poems and short stories. She has a Masters Degree in English literature and a Bachelor’s degree in Science. She loves learning new things and solving puzzles based on logic. While she has a flair for creative writing, she is also good at researching valuable information and presenting it to the readers in the form of technical content writing.