Building the Resilient Supply Chain

Abstract

All are dependent on efficient and reliable transportation and communication systems, an obvious point, but one that is often overlooked [4]. These issues are the subject of the Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management's ongoing programme of research into supply chain risk and vulnerability. The work presented in this paper forms part of the wider body of research, funded by the UK's Department for Transport, which aimed to increase the resilience of economic activity to all manner of potential threats [5]. This paper reports on some of the findings and recommendations of the second stage of that programme. The work is empirically based and draws on insights from a number of important industries including food retailing, oil and petrochemicals, pharmaceutical, packaging, electronics, transport services and the distribution of automotive spares. It also includes input from private and public sector organisations involved in the provision of health care and in defense. In particular it focuses on the development of a managerial agenda for the identification and management of supply chain risk, with recommendations to improve the resilience of supply chains. Supply Chain Resilience When working effectively and efficiently modern supply chains allow goods to be produced and delivered in the right quantities, to the right places, at the right time in a cost effective manner. Until recently the term 'supply chain' was not widely used beyond the confines of academia, specialist sectors of industry and the professional management community. Now, in the wake of a number of farreaching supply chain disruptions to economic activity it has crossed over into the everyday vocabulary of politicians, general managers and the wider public. The term 'supply chain' is itself a relatively new addition to the lexicon of management, first used in the early 1980s when writers coined the phrase to describe an emerging management discipline [6]. This new discipline was a

Managing Capabilities for Supply Chain Resilience Through it Integration

“…The proposed framework lacks empirical evidence; therefore, the validity of it is also questioned. Christopher & Peck (2004) analysed the supply chain resilience concept and focused on the supply chain capabilities to deal with risk by promoting flexibility and agility; however, they did not consider redundancy and IT integration aspects of the supply chain. The collaboration benefits, commitments and compatibility issues are widely researched and provide theoretical and empirical evidence for the benefits of collaboration.…”

Evidence for quality management systems being instrumental in improving supplier performance: the case of the wind power sector

“…Christopher and Peck (2004) define the supply chain as 'the network of organisations that are involved, through upstream and downstream linkages, in the different processes and activities that produce value in the form of products and services in the hands of the ultimate customer'. The SCM paradigm has become a powerful management weapon in recent years, as currently companies do not compete with each other directly, but rather in terms of supply (Fawcett et al, 2006;Christopher and Towill, 2000), because nowadays each and every company depends on their supply chain.…”

Coping with uncertainties via resilient supply chain framework

“…SCR addresses the supply chain's ability to cope with the consequences of unavoidable risk events in order to return to its original operations or move to a new, more desirable state after being disturbed (Christopher and Peck, 2004). Robert (1997) defined SCR can as "the adaptive capability of the supply chain to prepare for unexpected events, respond to disruptions, and recover from them by maintaining continuity of operations at the desired level of connectedness and control over structure and function".…”

“…Establishment of a supply chain community to facilitate the exchange of information among players of that community is the key precedence for supply chain risk. The implications of resilience extend beyond process redesign to fundamental decisions on sourcing and the establishment of more collaborative supply chain relationships based on far greater transparency of information (Christopher and Peck, 2004). Datta and Christopher (2011) who investigated information sharing via an agent-based simulation model pointed out that centralised information structure without widespread distribution of information and coordination is not effective in managing uncertainty of supply chain networks.…”

“…Vulnerability is defined by Svensson (2002) as 'unexpected deviations from the norm and their negative consequences'. Christopher and Peck (2004) defined supply chain vulnerability as the susceptibility of the supply chain to the likelihood and consequences of disruptions. Sheffi and Rice (2005) explained mathematically that vulnerability can be measured in terms of risk as the combination of the likelihood of an event and its potential severity.…”