Technical article
Risk Management in the Supply Chain
Industrial companies face many challenges today: advancing globalization and the associated cost pressures, as well as the widespread digitization of products and production processes, are just two examples. In addition to ever-shorter product life cycles, customer demands, product variety, and product complexity are all on the rise. As a result, numerous products must be developed and brought to market in ever-shorter time frames at optimal cost. This requires supply chains in which the respective companies are closely linked across national borders and operate efficiently.
According to a study by Bendul and Brüning, moderate or severe disruptions occur regularly within such supply chains. Disruptions in the flow of materials or information can therefore reduce productivity or revenue—regardless of the industry.
For companies, disruptions in supply chains pose significant risks, which are often mitigated by building up safety stock or maintaining a supplier portfolio that is as broad and sustainably stable as possible. Traditional supply chain risk management measures, however, entail very high costs and coordination efforts.
