Supply Chain Management in Unprecedented Times

Managing the impacts of Covid-19 in supply chains in the construction industry

This paper describes the supply chain management steps that clients, contractors and major suppliers alike should and can take to: secure supply right now, look ahead to business recovery, and then plan for a post Covid-19 world.

We call this three-step process

• Secure

• Recover

• Prepare

Covid-19 & supply chains in the construction industry: the big picture

The current and emergent business environment is unprecedented in peacetime. The global impact of Covid-19 is profound on people (societies and communities), on economies (stock market declines, interest rates and debts) and on health (deaths, illnesses, and mental wellbeing). We know that businesses will be prioritising the protection of their people first, and then focusing on their customers and on delivering their promises to them.

Coronavirus has impacted sectors and industries globally and has brought prominence to the importance and reliance that organisations have on their supply chain. In the automotive industry, for example, Nissan firstly paused production in Japan then the UK. The pause allows the stresses and strains of their supply chain to be reviewed. Other automotive companies and original equipment manufacturers may well go down the same path. The change and impact of Covid-19 is societal and economic and is very much ongoing. Organisations will have their supplier management, contract management and business resilience tested. For some it will be too much and, sadly, there will invariably be some business failures.

Download the paper to see our full 8-step plan for supply chain resilience here.