The Supply Chain meets the challenge of Covid19
Supply chains have been put to the test during this health crisis. To meet the challenge, we had to rely on the men and women of logistics and transport. We needed them on the ground to deliver essential products. This episode shed light on these people who, on a daily basis, enable the country to function. Despite the tension linked to the health context, they responded and gave their best. Delivery people, order pickers, forklift drivers, dock agents, etc. cannot telework. Few of them exercised their right of withdrawal. The others immediately respected the barrier gestures in order to protect themselves and others (colleagues, suppliers, customers, partners).
As for Supply Chain teams able to telework: forecasters, transport organizers, sales administration, project managers, they have demonstrated their effectiveness by using remote working tools. This opens up new perspectives for organizing work. The teams of manufacturers, distributors and service providers managed to provide quality work even though they were no longer located within the factory or warehouse. They had not been prepared for this global pandemic scenario but, galvanized by the challenge, they found new solutions to ensure the continuity of operations. They rose to the challenge by demonstrating their ability to adapt and their ingenuity. In just a few days, they changed established processes to improve responsiveness. The monthly mesh became weekly and the weekly mesh became daily. This period was rich in innovations and experiments. A new dynamic of progress has begun. All actors in the chain end-to-end collaborated in a transparent and sincere manner, which made it possible to find solutions to accelerate flows and avoid disruptions. They were pragmatic in breaking down the postures. They created a new framework for collaboration based on the following principles: being transparent, admitting mistakes and difficulties, asking for help, supporting each other.
A first live assessment highlights the strengths of the supply chain teams: their great skills, their ability to work together and implement new solutions, solid relationships with logistics providers and carriers. We also noted certain weaknesses in current supply chains: access to data on the entire flow and the lack of integration between the different systems. The strong variations in volume will have made it possible to highlight repetitive, poorly automated administrative operations with low added value. These tasks will disappear in the coming weeks.
A supportive Supply Chain
During this period, we also noted numerous solidarity actions within the transport and logistics sector: donations of protective equipment, expanded access to showers, cold snacks available to delivery people, etc. Even within several companies, the Supply Chain called on available resources, particularly sales and marketing forces, to compensate for the shortage of temporary workers. These makeshift reinforcements experienced a “live my life” of logistics packaging operators. This experience will make it possible, in the weeks to come, to improve collaboration between supply chain and marketing when it is necessary to create new sales packaging.
Therefore, this health crisis will have made it possible to shine a media spotlight on the little-known supply chain professions which are nevertheless essential to the proper functioning of the country. The role of the Supply Chain was little known and recognized, but it has now been demonstrated that responding to the unexpected is one of its fundamental capabilities. Governments around the world have also become aware of the strategic importance of having a solid national logistics sector, made up of world leaders and small businesses that can deliver a single piece of mail or hundreds of pallets from one end in a few days on the other side of the planet. It is a decisive asset for the security of economies and democracy.
Most professionals in the supply chain and beyond have become convinced that from now on, they will have to operate under great uncertainty where visual navigation will become the framework. This requires that the direction be clear for all internal teams and for partners. Supply Chain teams will have to rely on new fundamentals: collective intelligence internally and externally, strengthening omnichannel, without forgetting Social, Economic and Environmental Responsibility. Digital and the exploitation of data were already a major subject in the sector because it is an area where the mastery of data becomes the basis for any search for cost optimization and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
The covid-19 crisis will undoubtedly serve as a catalyst for the Supply Chain of tomorrow to be up to the challenges faced by Humanity.
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