Building Supply Chain Resilience by Disrupting It

The Breaking Point

Supply chains are finicky beasts that need constant attention and refinements to keep them humming even when the economy is good. When recessions hit, markets shift, and economies dip, supply chains become cataclysmic monsters ready to pull you and your company into the downward spiral.

That’s when leaders react. They scramble teams together and start answering inevitable questions, such as:

• Does it make sense to move 10% of our supply orders to one of our current suppliers?
• Should we decrease margins in order to adjust to newly enacted tariffs?
• Would it make sense to spend more on materials from a slightly more expensive supplier in order to maintain production levels?
• How can we offset costs if retail space becomes more expensive without risking price increases?
• At what point would we become cash-flow negative if we continued operating at our current guidelines throughout the recession?