tion and logistics giant DHL in responseto customers’ needs for better supply chainvisibility following the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami. It has since become anindependently operated company underthe management of Rising Tide Digital.
Since the start of the Covid-19 outbreakin January, Resilience360’s risk analystshave been tracking and assessing the pandemic’s impact on global supply chains,including quarantines, company shutdowns, border closures, and other disruptions. On Feb. 27, the company startedissuing daily updates on the outbreak. Ithas also produced 12 special reports, fivewebinars, and one podcast on the topic.
Shillingford recently took some timeaway from the crisis to talk to DCVELOCITY’s SusanLacefield on the lessonswe can learn from thepandemic and what toexpect in the comingmonths.
Q How is the Covid-19 pandemic dif- ferent from other risk events globalsupply chains have recently faced?
AThere are two main differences. One is the geographic spread andimpact of the outbreak. The speed,extent, and unpredictability are unprecedented and have resulted in simultaneous, global supply disruptions anddemand shocks. The other differenceis the human component of the pandemic—the loss of lives is, first andforemost, a human tragedy. Unlike most supply chain disruptions, the supply chain infrastructure is intact; it is theworkforce that is unable to work and the consumer that isunable or unwilling to consume.
It is also noteworthy that the tragedy and disruptionwould be much worse without the dedication and braveryof front-line workers in health care and in retail stores, andthose making the deliveries.
Q Has there been anything about the recent crisis that ook you by surprise or caught you off guard?
A [We’ve been struck by the lack of preparedness among the] companies that have been contacting Resilience360lately to understand how we can help them manage theirsupply chain risk. The lack of visibility to upstream supplyand logistics networks, the risks they face, and the financialimpact of these risks is surprising. Some companies havemade efforts to risk-adjust their decision-making, but mostare just about to start this journey.
QWhat are some lessons that can be learned from the pandemic from a supply chain perspective?ACompanies need to have better visibility into their extended network and the risks that are most likely tohave an impact on their ability to source, make, and delivertheir products on time. The move toward digitalizationneeds to accelerate, and risk needs to be embedded in supply chain decision-making at the strategic and tactical level.
Visibility and monitoring have become critical competen-cies and best practices, and will be evenmore so moving forward.
QWhat companies do you feel have handled the pandemic well, andwhat can other companies learn fromtheir example?
A At an individual company level, the ones that have responded well arethose that already had a cross-function-al crisis-management framework thatincludes supply chain risk monitoring—companies that have invested intools that enable end-to-end networkmapping and risk assessment. We alsofound that the industries that werehardest hit in past disruptions werethe best prepared, including automotive and high-tech companies that havebeen impacted by various natural disasters over the lastdecade. The same applies across countries and regions—areas that are historically more prone to disruptions tendto be better prepared.
QWhat long-term advice would you give companies on how they can recover from the pandemic?AThe speed and shape of each company’s recovery will depend on its size, industry, and location, but allcompanies need to accelerate their progress toward digitalization, and risk [management and analysis must] be a
