What do the port of Long Beach, California and the Suez Canal have in common? Water is one obvious answer to that question, but a supply chain professional might say, “recent headline-grabbing sources of supply variability that have disrupted global supply networks.” If it’s not COVID, it’s something else. 

Supply chain professionals are wrestling with many questions as we emerge from the pandemic. Fortunately, a pair of industry experts recently published a two-part series on implementing strategies for success despite inevitable disruptions in both demand and supply. In part one, Logility visionary Mac McGary and Supply Chain Insights founder Lora Cecere discuss demand fluctuation and what it means to ‘deliver better business outcomes’ in 2021.

In part two, Mac and Lora share valuable research and insights into what is driving supply variability in today’s markets, and provide achievable recommendations to address this challenge through:

• Focusing on the form and function of inventory to maximize the utility of the buffer. That means understanding inventory positions and capabilities from raw materials through semi-finished goods to in-transit finished goods
• Building and achieving a feasible plan and the importance of “what-if” analysis capabilities. It starts with defining “feasible” and establishing clarity of roles so the ‘top floor’ and the ‘shop floor’ are synchronized
• Ensuring adherence to the schedule, which requires understanding constraints across the entire supply network

In addition, you’ll hear what supply executives believe are the biggest gaps between the importance of benefits they expect supply chain technology to deliver and what they’ve actually achieved.

And finally, you’ll learn how Logility customers Kraft Heinz and Clarios reduced inventory by $100M+ while achieving key business objectives in the face of COVID-19, through technology that enabled quick and effective reaction to disruptions.

You can watch the replay of part 1 here: Deliver Better Business Outcomes – Managing Demand Variability
And part 2 here: Deliver Better Business Outcomes – Managing Supply Variability