Blue Yonder, digital supply chain transformation and omni-channel commerce provider says as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues, its effects on global supply chain and logistics networks are spreading and intensifying.
The digital platform company notes that this is also happening because many Western countries are enforcing economic sanctions against Russia, resulting in a struggle to isolate Russian products while still ensuring inventory is available.
In an ‘Ask the Expert’ feature with Industry Week, Blue Yonder’s Koushik Balasubramanian addressed the need for supply chains to become more resilient in the face of stalled inventory, product shortages, blocked shipping lanes, and other obstacles.
“There’s no end in sight to these challenges,” Koushik says. “In fact, disruptions will likely become more frequent in the future,” he adds. “Increasingly global and complex, supply chains are going to have to withstand more shocks and disruptions, both of which may be more frequent and potentially more severe.”
Blue Yonder adds that while Russian cargo sits on loading docks and ships, waiting to be inspected and rerouted, throughput levels are down across Europe – with noticeable effects on product availability.
It says even more damaging are the potential long-term impacts for the world’s food supply as Russia seizes Ukraine’s grain supplies and harvesting equipment.
Koushik says a lack of real-time visibility across the end-to-end supply chain with its many tiers of participants is a serious disadvantage.
“Mitigating disruptions as early as possible requires clear visibility into what the problem is and when it’s going to emerge,” notes Koushik. “Only then can companies get out ahead of the disruption – and their competitors – and solve it.”
He continues: “The challenges is that even for companies that have invested solidly in different aspects of their supply chains, such as demand sensing and forecasting, a lot of these disruptions are still beyond their control.
“Even if they have a solid plan in place, they’re still going to get hit. The company that has full visibility into what’s happening will be best positioned to identify the problem quickly, figure out the impact and severity of that problem, and solve it quickly.”
Blue Yonder says as multiple countries plunge into recession and critical product shortages loom, supply chain professionals must take aggressive action although one of the key challenges is that the world’s supply chains have become so complex and geographically dispersed.
It notes that it has a proven digital solution called Luminate Control Tower, which includes functionality aimed at monitoring real-time conditions across suppliers and managing any disruptions rapidly and strategically.
“Luminate Control Tower creates a real-time digital representation of the supply chain, a digital twin, that gives users a holistic view of the end-to-end network,” Koushik says. “This translates into higher service levels and improved customer satisfaction at a lower cost.”
For more information on Blue Yonder, click here.