COVID-19 is the disease that’s caused by the coronavirus, and many governments and healthcare bodies around the world are working tirelessly to combat its spread. The more the virus takes hold, the more it is impacting not only health but also global markets, commerce, and the supply chains. Manufacturers, suppliers, and all companies involved in the distribution of goods are feeling the pinch. At extraordinary times like these, any lack of resilience in the supply chain network becomes immediately evident.
For many products to be manufacture, their constituent parts need to obtained from around the world, with this particular cost making up a large part of the budgets of the companies involved. For a company to react to an event like the coronavirus that causes so much disruption, it needs to implement measures an arrange its operation to include certain contingencies.
Multiple Sources For Your Materials
One such contingency is to ensure that your company sources its most commonly used materials or products from multiple suppliers. By having suppliers in Europe and America, as well as in China, you build redundancy and resilience into your network. Of course, when a global issue like the coronavirus exists and movement is restricted, the more local your suppliers are to you, the better.
Strong Relationships With Suppliers
Another ‘step’ you can take is to make sure that the relationships you have with your suppliers are strong as if things do take a downturn and priorities have to be set, you’re much more likely to be given precedence over others. Although relationships like these take time to develop, keeping in regular contact with your leading suppliers is a great way to foster a robust connection and ensure that you’re at the forefront of their thoughts when making decisions.
Buying More Materials Than Needed
What can also be done to protect your supply chain is order more materials than you need while times are good. This is a measure that requires a certain amount of forethought, but if a company stockpiles between 30-60 days’ worth of inventory, it makes it able to survive any ‘bumps’ in the supply chain. This is a temporary measure, of course, but it provides a degree of certainty for any company’s operation.
Plan for the Worst
Now is the time to also be planning for the worst by creating business continuity plans, with contingencies being drawn up for elements like communication, transportation and of course, supply. It’s also important to not forget the people in the equation, as options like remote working arrangements and automation need to be taking into consideration to keep your operation moving when personnel levels are constraining due to coronavirus infection.
In Summary
In other, for a company to protect its interests during an event that threatens the global supply chain like the coronavirus, the measures listed above need to be employed in conjunction with each other. Hoarding stock only goes so far on its own. Still, when backed up by great supplier relationships and multiple supplier locations, companies give themselves the best possible chance of riding out the storm and coming out stronger on the other side.
There is, of course, only so much you can do in the face of a threat like A coronavirus, as other factors like consumer demand will also play a big part in what happens from here on. However, life will carry on after the crisis has decreased, as it always does. You have to make sure you’re one of the companies still standing when the dust has settled.
If your supply chain is being affected by the current situation and you’d like to know more about how to ensure your business continuity is protected, please visit our website www.cxportal.com, where you’ll find lots of useful information. Alternatively, if you’d like to speak to a member of our team, call us now on +442034416513 and we’ll do everything we can to help.
Walters Obenson
A dedicated and qualified Enterprise & Solutions Architect at CXPORTAL with nearly two decades of experience delivering cost-effective, agile digital transformations and high-performance technology solutions across diverse industries. Walters combines deep expertise in enterprise architecture, cloud adoption, and AI-driven innovation to design and implement solutions that align technology with business strategy.
