Deliotte’s Manufacturing Supply Chain Study Finds 80% Experienced Heavy Disruptions
To address these issues, manufacturers are turning to strategies that focus on four key areas.
Posted: October 20, 2022
Deloitte recently released its new study, “Meeting the Challenge of Supply Chain Disruption,” in partnership with Manufacturers Alliance. The joint study surveyed over 200 U.S. based manufacturing executives and features interviews with manufacturing and supply chain executives to examine how traditional manufacturing supply chains are evolving to balance costs, efficiency and resilience.
The study found 80% of respondents have experienced a heavy supply chain disruption in the previous 12-18 months, as a result of shipping delays, part shortages, and transportation delays due to truck driver shortages and congested ports. Others are facing operational concerns when trying to fulfill contracts including rising costs (46%), product issues from suppliers struggling to meet demand (43%) and logistical challenges when implementing new supply chains or contingency planning approaches (43%).
To address these issues, manufacturers are turning to strategies that focus on 4 key areas. Key takeaways include:
- Strengthening existing relationships. According to the study, among the top operational concerns for manufacturers right now are product issues from suppliers struggling to meet demand (44%). To mitigate this, 83% are investing in their existing supplier relationships as part of their overall supply chain investments.
- Diversification of supply chains. While still investing in existing relationships, 81% of manufacturing executives are also working to engage multiple suppliers. However, regional diversification of suppliers is less common. Cost (43%) is the primary concern.
- Implementing digital solutions. While manufacturers clearly see value in the digitalization of their supply chains – 78% agree using digital solutions and/or monitoring tools would enhance visibility and transparency through the supply network, and 76% plan to do so – 88% say they are concerned about legal, financial, privacy, IP theft or cybersecurity due to the digitization of supply chain ecosystems.
- Returning to a just-in-case inventory approach. Nearly two-thirds of manufacturing executives (65%) are, at least temporarily, shifting from a just-in-time approach that capitalizes on lean inventory investment to a just-in-case approach to mitigate any upcoming issues.
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