Lisa Anderson, manufacturing and supply chain expert and president of LMA Consulting Group discusses how the pandemic was a wake-up call to the importance of better visibility in the supply chain in an article that was picked up by Today’s Medical Developments.
“The pandemic was a wake-up call to the importance of visibility. While supply chains were starting to be stretched pre-pandemic, many simply broke when crushed by supplier and delivery challenges. Manufacturers realized they needed better visibility,” Anderson says. “Manufacturers set up dashboards for a more global picture of the many moving parts. This allowed them to see suppliers upstream and make adjustments. First, for incoming materials and sources of supply. Were they produced, in transit, or stuck at a port? Then, for finished products. When was it scheduled for production? Was it waiting for shipment or in transit to a DC or customer? When was delivery expected? All are critical to the supply chain.”
The more each supply chain partner can gain visibility, the better they can plan, and the more resilient they will be with changing conditions. Supply chain visibility includes the manufacturer, supplier, logistics providers, and customer. This is especially helpful to logistics providers (the furthest downstream) when production locations are switched.