There has likely by no means been a time in record when Logistics Supply Chain has been at its best amount of exercise and genuine importance of purpose than today’s coronavirus (COVID-19) period.
Leaders across the globe are at their pretty finest executing supply chain techniques.
It will not be out of put at all for the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces – His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo to be offered the title ‘The Commander-in-Main of Ghana’s Provide Chain’ for the previous couple of months.
The words ‘Supply Chain’ signify diverse factors to distinct people and organisations. Simply just put, Provide Chains are liable for producing anything at all and almost everything we use available to us in an effective and successful way.
The smartphone we use is a product or service of a supply chain – intended by a corporation in a person country, manufactured by a further company in yet another state and dispersed by dealers in many international locations.
Source Chain has very long been component of the unsung backbone of our financial state often taken for granted and usually invisible to shoppers.
From distribution of Own Protecting Devices (PPEs) to a Regional Medical center in Bolgatanga to shipment of uncooked supplies to Wilmar Ghana in Tema to the transportation of spare sections to AngloGold in Obuasi to the distribution of indelible ink to a polling centre in Walewale and to the availability of foodstuff things in Agbogbloshie market place in Accra they are all executed by logistics supply chain features.
Just as the human human body wants its essential organs to function well to continue to be alive and struggle the deadly COVID-19, the supply chain is also a crucial critical organ needed to maintain our state and its overall economy running.
COVID-19 has brought in its wake a humanitarian disaster that has uncovered the vulnerability of even the most potent nations in the planet, not to mention that of our country Ghana.
It has impacted each and every Ghanaian economic sector – overall health, agriculture, schooling, banking, constructions, gatherings, hospitality, transportation, car, mining, SMEs, just to mention a handful of. If there is a person phrase that describes this pandemic, it is UNCERTAINTY.
It is obvious that we are in strange situations and in responding to this crisis, as a result, executing nothing at all is not an solution. It is as a result time for Source Chain (SC) Leaders and Pros (Sourcing Specialists, Procurement Administrators, Price Chain Analyst, Logistics Executives, Distribution Professionals, Stock and Warehouse Administrators, Fleet Supervisors, etc.) to wake up to the task and shine above the issues.
Whiles no one particular is familiar with how shortly the pandemic will occur to an end and government is accomplishing all it can to safeguard citizens and to also deal with the financial fallouts, listed here are 5 suggestions to all CEOs and SC Leaders in just about every business to take into account:
- Be Serene and Guide with Compassion
In moments of crisis, people are searching for management. Households are on the lookout up to the fathers. Clients are looking up to the Health practitioner. Staff members are looking up to the CEO. The citizenry is on the lookout up to the President. As a Leader, you will not have all the responses but these incredible situations phone for incredible leadership.
A single essential management alternative is to continuously remind your people that you are in regulate of the scenario and there is under no circumstances a purpose to panic. Workers require reassurances shareholders want overall performance and consumers expect the very same pace and excellent of provider. Deliver them as significantly protection as feasible and be compassionate in your interaction.
- Get Each and every Supplier in Get
Most of our organisations and industries remain dependent on suppliers especially from China for their merchandise (raw resources, semi-concluded and completed) due to the fact of price tag efficiencies they offer. As China shut down output to incorporate the spread of the virus, the effects are staying felt throughout all industries in the nation.
Now is a great time to do a further assessment into your chain of provides. It is time to re-look at your functions, provider dependency and accountability. Suppliers (tier-1) are just the initially tier of your provide chain. Your suppliers have suppliers (tier-2) of their personal, who may possibly, in convert, even have suppliers (tier-3). So, for instance, if your organisation has 200 suppliers as tier-a single suppliers and each individual has an common of 35 tier-2 suppliers, it indicates that you really have 7,000 suppliers the broad the vast majority of whom you may well not know.
This is the ripe hour to complete a in-depth evaluation on every single provider to have an understanding of their publicity and dangers concerned in your chain of materials and their likely implications to determine corrective steps for your company continuity. It could be suicidal not to commit in mapping your provide networks to avoid working in the blind so as to guarantee far better visibility.
- Improve Cross-Market Collaboration
It is substantially tough in the brief-term to start off competing. Massive scale crises these types of as COVID-19 that problem numerous passions should pull alongside one another diverse associates both of those allies and rivals to endure the crisis.
The previous months have viewed firms when in intense level of competition breaking down limitations, coming alongside one another and collaborating to discover typical grounds to battle the pandemic. We have witnessed CEOs and other Leaders meeting to come across common grounds to salvage what is misplaced.
The Ghana COVID-19 Non-public Sector Fund for example has collaborated with Ghana Armed Forces Engineers Regiment to assemble 100-mattress infectious diseases isolation and remedy facility. Vodafone Ghana is collaborating with quite a few critical instructional establishments throughout the region to assure educational continuity as properly as KNUST partnering with Incas Diagnostics to develop fast diagnostic check package for COVID-19.
If we keep on to devote our time to this considerable degree of “open book” method – sharing contracts, most effective procedures, issues, and alternatives with other people, the immediate payback will be greater and more for all to share as these interactions give beginning to new degrees of optimised cooperation and consolidation.
Each individual CEO and SC Chief breathe, consume and snooze information. For the past months, all eyes have been on the Ghana Overall health Service’s web page as well as the weekly update of the President of the country. Nonetheless, there is huge details overload. Lots of small business products and new technologies are churning out for thought.
This is not the time for trial and error. It is essential to retain your conclusion creating focused on proper and well timed supply chain info. It will be pretty practical to go straight to the most reputable Specialized industry experts for aid. I have to be rapid to insert that, one particular need to however, under no circumstances refute couple directions from intuition – it definitely works in times like this.
- Leverage Possibilities hiding inside of COVID-19
All crisis contains seeds of possibility and as these kinds of, COVID-19 comes with its numerous possibilities wrapped up in difficulties. What gladdens my heart is humanity, from time immemorial, has been noted to rise earlier mentioned these kinds of problems, emerged more robust and created the most out of it.
The years following the Great Despair of the 1930s ended up many years of hardship but also of frantic improvements. The similar can be stated of the second earth war in the 1940s that also modified the world and even birthed the career willpower referred to as LOGISTICS & Supply CHAIN Management of today. You shouldn’t carry on to sit back and be afraid. You have to start to seem for techniques to go on the offensive.
It is time to rethink and renovate some business models. Could this be a ideal time to think about your provide chain diversification? Are there manufacturing systems restructuring that requires to be considered? Is there an rising buyer conduct to acquire edge of? Is there a expertise in the market worthy of taking into consideration? Are there battling competitors you can set up to purchase?
Thorough wondering into some of these places can uncover options and new techniques of propelling your organisation. All CEOs along with their SC Leaders ought to determine what can perhaps be harnessed out of this disaster.
In conclusion, our maximum precedence in the course of this time remains the protection and wellbeing of our inner and external shoppers – staff members, prospects, suppliers and small business companions. Above all, bear in mind that folks are the most influenced all through this pandemic.
The need for empathy is key. Your authentic care is also an significant excellent to maintain that ought to be at display in these times. Attain out to everybody individually in your crew if attainable. Don’t place your base line above your folks but rather put your persons previously mentioned your base line.
We will get by way of this pandemic and when we do, I’m certain that heritage will show how Ghana’s SC Leaders with their CEOs contributed to present our country and the earth at significant that bridge between concern and hope and among confusion and being familiar with.
The writer, Patrick Andoh, is a Supply Chain Pro and Vice President-Logistics of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Ghana.
Email: authorpa.gh@gmail.com
