MHD SUPPLY CHAIN
KEEPING YOUR HEAD ABOVE WATER Körber Supply Chain CEO Chad Collins says today’s supply chains are mission-critical, he tells MHD why.
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oday’s supply chains are increasingly complex. Some sources of this complexity are familiar: handling more products; partnering with more suppliers; fulfilling through more channels; meeting customer expectations for choice, convenience, speed, and price to name a few. Then there are unexpected disruptions challenging supply chains across the globe and changing how we think about crisis mitigation and risk avoidance. These complexities exist regardless of region, industry, or business size. Nonetheless, businesses need to serve their customers under these circumstances — making supply chain management mission-critical to the majority of organizations moving goods. There are many moving pieces to consider, and some organisations have more resiliency than others. This 50 | MHD JUNE 2020
includes technology, system flexibility, agile connectivity and integrations to a growing number of solutions, and transparency up to the last mile. So how do we keep our heads above water when complexities arise? How do we stay ahead of the ever-changing nature of supply chain? To reduce supply disruption and risk, consider the following:
ADAPTABILITY A flexible technology platform is key. The ability to make changes quickly can make all the difference, especially when the unexpected becomes a reality. Voice and Autonomous Mobile Robotics (AMR), for example, can provide solutions for scaling to quickly adapt to arising needs. But you need infrastructure built for pivoting to add these systems without disrupting operations and further complicating
difficult situations. Voice technology, in particular, is a proven solution that can be used for more than 24 different processes in the warehouse alone – leading to improvements in productivity, accuracy, training time, and employee satisfaction. On the software side of things, cloud infrastructures provide the system scalability and managed services that offer vital resources when they’re needed most.
EFFICIENCY Many warehouses struggle with labour challenges, be it shortages during peak periods or unexpected occurrences like COIVID-19. Supply chains need to be prepared to do more with fewer hands. To overcome these challenges, automation technologies can augment the workforce. Layer pickers, for example, can manage up to 98% of all
