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Companies are looking for easy solutions to supply chain challenges, but that is not how it works and companies need to start thinking about supply chains in a totally unique way. They need to think about agility, adaptability, and optionality, which is necessary to prevent these problems occurring in the future.

1. Meet customer expectations with Supply Chain diversification.

Creating a diverse Supply Chain not only helps your reputation amongst customers, but it can also help fuel growth of your companies’ profits. More suppliers mean you can reduce the risk of backorders and long shipping times should one company fail to meet demand. This means you can commit to quality customer service and more adequately meet customer expectations, even amid uncertainty.

To achieve a diversified Supply Chain, you need to: –

• Outline your program and define its purpose.
• Secure commitment to the program at the highest level.
• Create a system of accountability.
• Partner with business networks to find diverse suppliers.

2. Have enough stock when demand is rising.

This may seem obvious but traditionally most companies are conservative and reactionary by nature. Business owners must implement or improve demand forecasting and predict the future demand for products by analysing historical sales data. This requires a lot of communication between customers, suppliers, and yourselves. A clear decision on your appetite to risk and sensible investments in stock is required, once minimum, maximum stock levels and reorder levels have been established. This is not an individual but team effort, internally and externally to the business.

3. Navigate unexpected challenges.

Again, essentially you need to be initiative-taking. Business owners have always been advised to plan for the unpredictable, recent events have outlined the true importance of developing contingency plans. If your business does not have a contingency plan drafted, now is the time and designate a team that will address any issue that arises.

4. Avoid overselling and over promising.

Businesses are facing high order rates coupled with Supply Chain challenges on a global scale, the last thing business owners want to face is overselling. According to a recent Microsoft survey 60% of customers would choose to stop doing business with a company due to a poor customer experience. The current global Supply Chain crisis creates an essential need for overselling protection tactics. It is important to practise strong inventory management to avoid overselling.

In the event of overselling a product, be sure to effectively communicate with customers as soon as the problem is identified. Do not delay in letting the customer know the order will not be fulfilled.

5. Anticipate manufacturing and supplier delays.

With manufacturing and supplier delays negatively affecting most industries, businesses need to become determined to overcome the burden of manufacturing and supply chain delays. Practising Supply Chain diversification and sales/inventory forecasting are excellent ways to mitigate issues caused by Supply Chain disruption, but these methods are not infallible. Now is the time to establish all sales channels and streamline inventory levels to ensure your business knows exactly how much product it has to sell and how long it will take to replenish inventory.

If you would like advice on managing your Supply Chain challenges, check out my other article Supply Chain Opportunities for SMEs or contact me via the form below.