In this blog we will discuss the last imperative to build an agile supply chain. Click here to read about other imperatives in building an agile supply chain, discussed earlier.

The fifth imperative is –ENABLE RAPID RESPONSES & DEPLOYMENT.

Organizations that drive collaborative behavior in contracting approaches and maintaining healthy business relationships with their key supply chain partners co-evolve to a higher level of performance that allows all entities in the supply chain to not only survive, but adapt to the rapidly changing environment around it.

Let us now consider this with the help of an example;

One of the leading manufacturers of external hard drives faced major supply disruptions post the earthquake that struck the Japan .The suppliers had to shut down for next 6 months. The firm needed to identify substitute suppliers in a short time span in order to meet the demand for the hard disks.

It faced the following challenges:

• Long cycle time for building new supplier list
• Cumbersome process of supplier validation and evaluation.
• Error prone contract awarding process.

These issues can be resolved by using the correct technology which helps;

• Create & manage a centralized supplier data repository.
• Get alerts on key supplier information to evaluate key parameters like Financial Due Diligence, supplier risk, Altman–Z score etc so that timely actions can be taken especially in the case of evergreen contracts.
• Select optimum award scenarios by way of bid optimization.

Thus we have seen that building an agile supply chain is key for organizations to manage costly supply disruptions as well as manage relationship with suppliers keeping in mind the uncertainties that have & continue to surround the supply chain. Technology plays a crucial role in enabling procurement organizations build an agile supply chain.

Hope you enjoyed reading the blog series on building an agile supply chain.