Since the start of the pandemic, disruptions on supply chains has been one of the only constants that was reliable and you could count on.

In this podcast, Yacine and Hamad will outline the top supply chain risk in 2022 and cover the following topics:

• General state of supply chain risk in 2022 (i.e. a lot more risky than pre-pandemic).

• Cybersecurity risk in the manufacturing sector : Why does it keep happening in big organizations?

• Geopolitical risk in the manufacturing sector and how it affects the supply chain. 

• Human Resource risks in manufacturing : labor shortage and what to do about it.

• Quality risk in the goods produced.

How to mitigate some of your supply chain risks:

• Educate yourself about the major cybersecurity risk, here is a blog post to get you started and ensure it’s a priority for your organization.

• Do a checkup on how old your systems are and make sure there is a budget to modernize your infrastructure (otherwise you keep yourself exposed to lots of potential attacks).

• Ensure your suppliers are also mitigating the risks on their side.

• Backup your important digital assets for your company operations so that it builds you time.

• Have direct visibility in your supply chain operations digitally and built-in flexibility so that you can adapt to geopolitical risks.

• Ensure that you have a stimulating and challenging work environment for your employees on the shop floor. 

• Integrate technology in your supply chain to ensure that the very redundant (but crucial) work can get automated.

• Having more data on your suppliers allows you to take more bets on suppliers. This information needs to be easily searchable and useable.

• Ensure that you have very good information transfer with your new suppliers so that there isn’t any misunderstanding on the goods produced.

Out-of-context quotes:

> The procurement department, they have no choice but to talk to outside folks. The case for a social-engineering attack is much much easier to do here, just by the nature of the industry.

> They have their forecast planned out properly [the attackers]. Yeah in their CRM they will ping back this company and ask if they are still interested in their service [laugh].

> Welcome to the 2020s, now every manufacturing company needs to understand that cybersecurity is a core component of your operations.

> I’ve seen buyers that can’t innovate and improve their operations because they can’t hire in procurements.

> We [a manager in a manufacturing company] have hired a journalier/freelancer and after the dinner pause he just left. He didn’t say a word, he just walked out the door.

> The most effective strategy to curb labor shortage I’ve seen was to train the employees. The best at this were literally teachers.

> [talking about pushing too much for low prices] No one is happy when the prices are below the competency line. The buying company is not happy because there will be delays and lower quality. The suppliers that bid too low aren't happy because they are losing money on the deal. The optimal supplier is not happy because they know the part will be messed up. You have essentially pissed off everyone as a buyer!

See you in the next podcast! 👋

Yacine Mahdid