Every manufacturer needs to assess their supply chain risk at some time or another. You need to understand where vulnerabilities lie, especially at a time when market forces are creating volatility. Performing risk assessment allows you to be prepared and take active measures to ensure your company will be less vulnerable in the long run against unforeseen circumstances. Supply chain risk assessment is vital in preventing complacency since many companies understandably place innate trust in their suppliers. However this can cause manufacturers to be ‘blindsided’ in the event something goes wrong.
Analyze Every Angle of the Supply Chain
Viewing risk from the perspective of only your suppliers creates a myopic view, which doesn’t allow you to understand how much the supplier factors into your total risk exposure. On the other hand, only viewing the supply chain from a holistic perspective makes it difficult to understand where the ‘real’ vulnerabilities lie.
Perform Risk Audits on Every Supplier
Chances are you have a few suppliers that are key to your business. If this year has shown us anything, it’s that even the largest supply chains are still vulnerable. Performing risk audits on your suppliers forces you to prepare and prevent complacency. Also keeping your files up to date keeps your company up to date on all of the factors in your supply chain, which lets you see potential risks and allows you to adjust ahead of time.
Perform an Assessment of Each Particular Risk
Performing assessments tied to particular risks allows you to ‘see’ the potential impacts to your operations. Modeling these crisis events can show what you have direct control over and how you can prepare in the event of a crisis. You can begin to take preventative measures which will allow you to adapt as circumstances change. Staying on top of these situations will help you in the long run. It’s also important to remember that this is an ongoing process, one that needs to be performed over and over since circumstances are always changing.
At Zip Xpress, we understand the importance of assessing supply chain risk. We work with all of our customers to asses their risk and help them with any vulnerabilities to keep their shipments moving. We help each customer through our custom carrier solutions, a process where we partner with each customer and treat their problems as our own. If you want to see these solutions for yourself with your business, start today with Zip Xpress!
