To do: Prepare supply chain for natural disaster

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“It will never happen to my supply chain,” said the first planner. “We’ll sort it out when the time comes,” said the second planner.

Perhaps these fictional quotes resonate a familiar refrain. After all, on the list of things to do when managing your supply chain on a daily basis, ‘prepare for natural disaster’ likely sits far down the list, somewhere between ‘submit expenses’ and ‘organize file folders.’ I totally get it.

Be prepared

Now comes the ‘but,’ and the point at which I tell you why it’s so important for you and your organization to sort out your supply chain’s emergency preparedness / response / action plan. First, your supply chain operates globally. That means that while the next natural disaster might not be at your doorstep, it may well be on your supplier’s doorstep, the one you rely on the other side of the world. You have to be able to plan for that. Second, hurricane season is coming. Again. Just as it does every year, but the storms are coming with more frequency, duration and intensity. You have to be able to plan for that. And third, it’s about more than just storms. Earthquakes and wildfires have a nasty habit of cropping up when you least expect it. You have to be able to plan for that.

Practical and technical recommendations

So while I’m not saying it’s all about climate change (though to be honest, it’s mostly about climate change), what I am saying is there are specific contingencies you can put in place – both practical and technical – and there are examples for you to follow. The paper ‘A storm is coming: Is your supply chain prepared for a natural disaster?’ takes a look at the challenges multinational corporations operating complex supply chains face when confronted with the harsh reality of a natural disaster and provides specific recommendations on what to should look for when taking measures to manage and minimize their impact.

The Keysight Technologies story

If you’re more the visual type, take a trip with Keysight Technologies in this infographic to find out how they successfully navigated through an intense wildfire to go from a shutdown at headquarters to full production in just six days. Finally, dive deeper into the Keysight story in this case study for more behind the scenes detail to learn how they put Kinaxis RapidResponse to use in the early hours of the wildfire, helping the company regain momentum and keep every customer commitment. Your supply chain management to-do list will thank you.

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