Building the Resilient Supply Chain

In today’s uncertain and turbulent markets, supply chain vulnerability has become an issue of significance for many companies. As supply chains become more complex as a result of global sourcing and the continued trend to ‘leaning-down’, supply chain risk increases. The challenge to business today is to manage and mitigate that risk through creating more resilient supply chains. Supply chain managers strive to achieve the ideals of fully integrated efficient and effective supply chains, capable of creating and sustaining competitive advantage [1]. To this end they must balance downward cost pressures and the need for efficiency, with effective means to manage the demands of market-driven service requirements and the known risks of routine supply chain failures. Better management and control of internal processes together with more open information flows within and between organisations can do much to help. However, in an age of lengthening supply chains serving globe-spanning operations, recent events around the world have provided frequent reminders that we live in an unpredictable and changing world [2]. Natural disasters, industrial disputes