Strategies to Build Resiliency in Your Supply Chain For 2021

If 2020 taught us anything, is it that many things can change unexpectedly. In the first few weeks of this new decade, hurricanes, fires, and international relation conflicts already caused some unsteadiness within the supply chain. On top of that, the COVID-19 global pandemic has further affected our society and all parts of the supply chain.

While we are slowly starting to get back to a “new normal” it is important to recognize that this pandemic will have greatly impacted the way we evaluate and mitigate risk within the supply chain.

Current Trends and Challenges of the Supply Chain

1.       Uncertainty: The greatest challenge of the year was the uncertainty that all of us faced. Many companies that once used reliable forecasting data to plan their production now faced great demand volatility. In addition, it was (and still is) difficult to determine when this period of uncertainty will be over.
2.       Disruption: There have been many disruptions in the ways we were coordinating various aspects of the supply chain. The COVID-19 pandemic has notably caused disruption in the ways we communicate and hold meetings with each other. It has also caused disruption within the manufacturing facilities as some were forced to shut down. Other geopolitical events have impacted the way we source our supplies, and a lot of companies are considering re-shoring some of their operations.  
3.       E-commerce Shift: Another effect of the pandemic is the large shift from brick-and-mortar shops to e-commerce. This has brought on its own challenges as some companies had to modify the way they were packaging their products to sell in larger quantities than usual.

How Can You Build Resiliency for 2021?

The events of 2020 have made it clear that companies must have a way to handle uncertainty, disruption, and other fluctuations in trends to be able to continue meeting demands. For companies that did not have the ability to quickly adjust their production planning or had long lead times, this period of time was particularly difficult to stay on top of.

Companies that had the best outcome in 2020 were those that were able to formally look at the changes in market demands and evaluate what needed to change in their production plan to meet those demands. The key advantage here was proper planning.

If we have a delay due to a technical problem or outside process, PlanetTogether allows us to see the effect that this delay has on our entire schedule. This is vital information to keep our production on track.

BRUCE HAYS, DIRECTOR OF MANUFACTURING, J&J SYNTHES

 

Planning can often be taken for granted. When things are running smoothly, the planning process may seem monotonous and unexciting. However, it is crucial that companies be able to handle any changes that come their way. The most effective strategy here is to put strong planning processes in place so that you are better prepared with the energy and the resources to react to unexpected situations. A few things that can make the planning process easier are:

1.       Top-Down Planning: In order to put in place strong processes to evaluate and adjust to changing market demands, you need to have strong support from everyone in the company. This means that the high-level executives must be on board and part of the planning process. This will build stronger relationships between the different parts of the supply chain and make the planning and re-evaluating process much smoother.
2.       Shorten Planning Horizon: Another aspect that was useful for successful companies was shifting to a shorter planning horizon. The monthly planning no longer works. It seems like there are new regulations every day. In addition, frequent changes in material and shipping costs sometimes meant the need to re-evaluate the production plan to stay profitable.
3.       Use What-If Scenarios: A What-If scenario allows you to see the effect of changes in demand so that you can plan for various scenarios. This is a technique that is much easier to do with a software. Overall, the idea is to see the effects on supply and resource requirements for various changes in demand and have a solution in place to handle it.
4.       Use technology: It can be extremely challenging and possibly impossible to quickly make changes to your production plan when you are manually using an Excel spreadsheet. In volatile situations, the best way to handle changes is to use a software that is integrated directly with your ERP system and that allows you to quickly evaluate potential risks and make the appropriate changes. An Advanced Planning and Scheduling system allows you to concurrently plan and schedule materials, capacity, and resources. Because of this, you can see the effects of changes in market demand and determine whether you need to add capacity or order more materials before you encounter the problem.

The challenges of the last 9 months have solidified the need for strong supply chain basics such as having an efficient planning process. This is required for companies to have a strong structure to be able to handle the frequent changes in supply and demand. We don’t know if things will ever return to what they were, but we know that we should expect the unexpected and prepare for it.

Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) Software

Advanced Planning and Scheduling Softwares have become a must for modern-day manufacturing operations as customer demand for increased product assortment, fast delivery, and downward cost pressures become prevalent. These systems help planners save time while providing greater agility in updating ever-changing priorities, production schedules, and inventory plans. APS Systems can be quickly integrated with an ERP/MRP software to fill the gaps where these systems lack planning and scheduling flexibility, accuracy, and efficiency.

With PlanetTogether you can:

• Create optimized schedules that balance production efficiency and delivery performance
• Maximize throughput on bottleneck resources to increase revenue
• Synchronize supply with demand to reduce inventories
• Provide company-wide visibility to resource capacity
• Enable scenario data-driven decision making

The implementation of an Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) Software will take your manufacturing operations to the next level of production efficiency by taking advantage of the operational data you already possess in your ERP system. APS is a step in the right direction of efficiency and lean manufacturing production enhancement. Try out a free trial or demo!