Fixing Broken Supply Chains

The network between a corporation and its suppliers that produces and distributes a certain product to a buyer is known as a supply chain. Businesses benefit from supply chains since they are cost-effective and help them stay competitive in the marketplace while also allowing for a speedier production cycle. Before the product reaches the buyer, several procedures must be completed, starting with approving the customer’s request for purchase and ending with the product reaching the consumer, which the supply chains aid in accomplishing. On the other hand, it is highly likely for a supply chain to break, and it is critical to repair them as soon as possible. Hence, in this episode of the TED Talks Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Dustin Burke, a global trade specialist, proposes a few practical methods for repairing broken supply chains.

Dustin Burke opens the conversation by describing how supply chains were seriously impacted in the late 1970s when people were panic buying. The Covid-19 epidemic is an example of a recent occurrence that can be recalled at this time. He underlines that today’s supply chain challenges are genuine. A supply chain, he continues, is a complicated network of processes that a product must travel through before reaching its final destination. He claims that supply networks may be divided into two categories: simple and infinitely complicated. Natural disasters, pandemics, and geopolitical instability, to name a few, may all impact negatively on supply chains. Beyond the common remedies presented by the media, actions must be taken to address the obstacles encountered by supply chains in the event of crisis and shocks. To mention a few options that can endure competitive pressures, he offers risk sharing, radical transparency, and automated suggestions. Dustin feels that when these three approaches are integrated, they have the potential to help break the resilience-efficiency trade-off. He proposes that building extra buffers to avoid the next recipient from having to wait is an apparent solution to the supply problem. The higher the output, the more difficult it is to reuse the product once demand has dropped. He proposes that industry stakeholders share and pool risks by pooling the costs of storing extra raw materials, vital components, and continuing machinery in exchange for a charge that will only be utilized in a crisis. However, to enforce risk sharing, you must first determine who shares the same amount of risk as you, and in order to do so, supply chains must be completely transparent. When a supply chain fails, all organizations that use the same input are in danger, rather than simply the consumers. Several seemingly unrelated product lines can often be traced back to a single supplier. As a result, complete openness is required. Many situations are beyond human intelligence, the ability to anticipate, but when given the right facts, automated suggestions can assist in identifying them.

Supply chains are a vital network that aids in the seamless operation of a firm. It is, however, much more critical to be prepared with solutions in case they break. In this episode of the TED Talks Daily podcast, you can learn how to deal with supply chain difficulties from Dustin Burke, a global trade specialist.