Natural disaster. Factory stoppage. Labor dispute. Political upheaval. The list of potential supply chain disruptions is quite long. When your carefully planned supply chain runs into trouble it can cause a ripple effect across your company, partners and customers. The difference between success and struggle comes down to proper planning through scenario analysis to mitigate the risk. Unfortunately for many organizations, the systems and processes are not in place to accomplish this. While you cannot anticipate every disruption; you can build a flexible process to ensure you handle the disruption efficiently, while minimizing the negative impact to your customers and bottom line.

In the last few weeks, any company that imports products from China has been faced with the annual labor shutdown event due to Chinese New Year. This is a planned, known event that causes mass disruptions across supply chains around the world. However, many still are not planning adequately for this shutdown. SnapAV, a manufacturer and source of installation-friendly audio, video and CCTV products, spoke with industry publication SupplyChainBrain about their process to plan and manage Chinese New Year. SnapAV’s recommendations include:

• Define a clear inventory strategy well ahead of the disruption
• Communicate with vendors to ensure the timely arrival of inventory
• Synchronize supply and demand to optimize pre- and post-holiday orders
• Optimize storage and distribution container space to avoid shortages or empty capacity
• Use Logility Voyager Solutions^TM to identify business cycle calendars to boost forecast accuracy
• Define roles and responsibilities within the company to lessen the disruption
• Monitor performance process and look to improve for the following year(s)

To learn more about how SnapAV has turned potential challenges into opportunities, watch the video below.

In an ever-evolving world, supply chain optimization needs the flexibility to plan for a variety of risks and opportunities. Set the foundation now to turn potential disruptions into winning opportunities. And remember, the best time to be proactive is now!