The Resilient Supply Chain

Global business is at a crossroads.

Volatility has emerged as a systemic condition, disruption occurs at any time, often with unprecedented magnitude, and there are no longer discrete sets of risk events with periods of stability in between.

When disruptions occur, the global supply chain – now an intricately intertwined web – acts as a massive neural network, spreading impact instantly among all the connected parties.

Effects cascade across the extended supply chain, and frequently gain intensity as they ripple outward from the epicenter.

In this environment, traditional supply chain management models begin to break down, bending under the strain of the unknown and the unexpected. Just-in-time, lean and other acknowledged best practices create highly efficient supply chains. As it turns out, however, these supply chains are also brittle and high risk.

In the face of this realization, a new paradigm is emerging: The fast, lean and resilient supply chain. This hybrid tempers efficiency and cost management with rational and appropriate contingent capacity, scale and capability.

The new resilient supply chain embodies what futurist Andrew Zolli refers to as the two defining aspects of resilience:

• The ability to maintain a core purpose, or
• The ability to restore core purpose in the face of a disruption.