Adapting to the changing conditions
The past two years have shown how vulnerable the supply chain is. It has emerged that conditions such as pandemics and disasters can reset everything. This shows the importance of flexibility and the ability to adapt to changing conditions. To enhance adaptability, suppliers are shifting their limited production capacity to items that sell faster, cancelling promotions for some products and imposing allocations. With the challenges in the supply chain, the biggest retailers, including those that retail holiday decorations, furniture, toys and appliances, are encountering problems transporting items across the seas, which takes about 80 days.
Avoid confusion
Serious, big-name retailers are trying their best to avoid last-mile confusion caused by massive orders that affect delivery. Retailers such as Amazon and Walmart provide logistics capabilities to competitors through multi-channel fulfillment, providing packing and delivery services to eCommerce sellers and other approaches. For the apparel industry, the retailers are trying to navigate an increasing number of factory shutdowns, transit times and rising costs, which are some of the biggest challenges currently.
Solve cyber attacks
Cyber attacks are becoming a menace to many industries and organizations. They can happen to anyone at any time and anywhere if the systems are not protected adequately. Supply chains can also open you up for dangerous attacks on you and others. If there is any lax, hackers may capitalize on it to access the systems and steal valuable data or assets. The chance of your supply chain being disrupted by cyberattacks or opening you up for attacks make it necessary for you to secure it. Avoid this problem by having solid communication and relationships with all the links in the chain of supply and knowing where vulnerabilities might come from.
Price fluctuations
Changes in product prices are a norm in the supply chain industry. However, such occurrences create disruptions because you must decide whether to switch suppliers, increase prices, or accept reduced profits yourself. These fluctuations can be caused by factors like an increase in oil prices, which is known for its volatility and causes financial overheads in manufacturing and transportation.
Product issues
Quality management is connected with supply chain management. Therefore, issues with products can have a significant problem in the supply chain. It can lead to problems such as delays in delivering a final product or issues with the customer. No business wants to deliver low-quality merchandise to the customer or have customer products delayed because of faults. Therefore, a proper quality management system with customer expectations in mind and proper communication with suppliers is key to solving these problems.
Although delays can happen in some instances, supply chain disruptions can make things worse. Natural disasters have proven to be a challenge. For example, in case of a natural disaster, transportation and trade routes can be affected, leading to delays in product delivery. In case of a pandemic, a problem might arise from measures such as lockdowns and social distancing meant to minimize spread. All these make it hard for freight carriers to deliver goods through any means.