Supply chain plays a vital role when the economy reopens

The year 2020 is a year of ultimate challenges and now that we are getting past almost half of it the world economy and local businesses seem to be slowly opening up. Many businesses not to spare the large corporate houses have started feeling the pinch of the situation and seem to be eager and roaring to make a quick comeback. 

Lockdowns though have helped us to contain Covid19 in some parts of the world it has also posed a great threat to the economy and thereby causing anxiety of not being able to access and expect what’s next.

Offices closed and with layoffs on the rise with the latest estimate to be around 30 million unemployed people, one of the biggest challenges for many nations is to stabilize their economies. No nation can afford another round of complete lockdowns as this will only aggravate the situation in the already affected economy that may lead to a more serious crisis of people dying out of hunger. This will largely impact not only the stability of a nation but also on the future of world trade.

As we have seen a scarcity in the supply of medicine and essentials there is only going to be an increase in demand in the coming days. If any country needs to recover quickly economically then it is imperative to say that there has to be a constant flow of goods and supplies whenever it is required. Let it be medicine or any item for household consumption goods and supplies have to be made available. Hence Supply Chain plays a vital role in stimulating the world economy.

The supply chain helps in safely storing the goods and freight forwarding companies ensuring the smooth flow of transportation of the essential items whenever it is required thereby ensuring the smooth conduct of business.

One of the biggest learning curves we have seen from this epidemic is that there will always be a surge in demand for many products and items. The sudden change in the global and local scenarios makes it difficult for the supply chain industry to keep up and that will give rise to shortages. Distribution centers were not prepared and did not have enough products in hand to maintain stock levels with the exponential growth in demand.

With the government still urging companies to allow their employees to work from home, there is going to be the stocking of products with the expectations of shortages. 

Let us evaluate some of the most crucial aspects the supply chain industry will play while many nations are getting geared up to reopen their businesses.

Strategies to cope up with sudden demands:

One of the biggest advantages we will have is that as businesses start reopening we have much more valuable data in hand to forecast demand and thereby plan operations. Though we have assuring numbers of COVID-19 cases improving there are still concerns from the medical fraternity of a possible recurrence of the virus. Hence it goes without saying that companies have to foresee this and forecast the possible demands which can be a sudden one. 

Supply chain strategies have to be implemented to tackle such surges for their products and they should consider storing more products in hand to reduce the possible scarcity. One can use the history of demands and shipping from the past few months to draw an estimate of the demand and thereby create a more accurate forecast. This will help the supply chain in being on top of their game maintaining adequate supply levels in order to meet requirements.

Preparedness when the economy reopens:

It is not easy for any business to restart its operations right from day one, especially during such a crisis. Stability is an alien word now as the magnitude of the effects the epidemic has had on the world economy is unimaginable. No business can fall back to its full operating capacities as employees are still not allowed to turn up to offices in full strength. Safety and cleanliness remain the foremost concern in the minds of the people and hence all necessary precautions have to be taken by every sector of business. 

The supply chain is one of the most important industries that will help reconnect businesses and countries. All necessary policies and measures have to be formulated and implemented by the logistics partner to prevent the spread of the virus particularly when businesses are getting opened up.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

It is time we rethink our business plans and find out ways and means to get back to our feet. As economies reopen people will start using businesses. The supply chain is a sector that will be looked upon to help in boosting many businesses thereby helping in pushback nations to where it was earlier. Supply chains have to learn to quickly adapt to situations in a more efficient manner with constant communications with manufacturing houses and logistics providers.