The supply chain is getting more complex and difficult to manage, through technological development and fast globalisation from companies. Companies want to manage this complexity to reduce the risks and uncertainties.
A solution to a complex supply chain is to implement a control tower. The control tower is an organisation which watches on divers’ parties in the supply chain. The control tower is powered by processes and technologies that facilitate logistic implementation, continuous improvement initiatives and decision-making processes throughout the entire supply chain.
The control tower creates an overview, through which risks and opportunities are identified at an early stage. The importance of visibility in a control tower becomes obvious when unexpected risks are happening, such as natural disasters or bankruptcy. Because visibility in the supply chain makes it easier to react on unexpected risks. Control towers add value in the supply chain to make better decisions in the choice for transport modality, stock planning, manufacturing planning or demand planning. Visibility is necessary to make the best choice for the supply chain. https://www.nl.dsv.com/nl-NL/expert-insights/de-logistieke-control-tower-verklaard
For a company is it important to do a risk analysis to have a global overview of all the possible risks. Besides have a mitigation for every risk, when some unexpected risk happens. The risk analysis in combination with a control tower makes it easier for companies to react on unexpected risks. The control tower makes sure all aspects in the supply chain is visible to manage the complex processes. https://www.bciglobal.nl/nl/control-tower-strategie
For example, a company import components from a factory in Osaka, Japan to assemble them in Galanta, Slovakia. These components will be assembled for the market of Europe. But there is a hurricane running over Osaka and the factory is destroyed. The control tower of the company has seen this hurricane and can act fast. Natural disasters are one of the risks of the risk analysis and the company already though of a mitigation through a back-up plan. The back-up plan could be making agreements with other factories, which also manufacture these components. In this way is the delay on the manufacture process in Galanta probably one or two days. When the company did not have a control tower is have visualise and manage the supply chain and did not think of a risk analysis with mitigations, would the delay be more than a couple days, maybe weeks.
It is important for companies to have a combination of a risk analysis and a control tower. This makes it easier to manage the unexpecting aspects which happen.
Fieke van der Kaa - 151055 