Supply chain resilience: Dr Sanjit Singh Lamba, CEO, Valence Labs

Addressing the issue of supply chain resilience, Dr Sanjit Singh Lamba, CEO, Valence Labs, informed that supply chain risks have spiked on a number of fronts, fuelled by workforce constraints, input shortages and liquidity issues, due to the slashing of production volumes and future forecasts. Quoting a report from the Capgemini Research Institute, he notified that organisations faced significant challenges across the supply chain in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. While 69 per cent companies faced difficulties in supply planning due to lack of information on impacted suppliers, and in rapidly scaling production, 74 per cent faced shortage of critical parts/materials, 71 per cent faced difficulties in switching to online channels, 68 per cent faced difficulties in demand planning due to lack of data on fluctuating demand, 72 per cent faced difficulties in endto-end monitoring of the supply chain and 60 per cent faced difficulties in maintaining healthy and safe working conditions, among others.

He also told the audience that organisations have struggled to recover from supply chain disruptions, and twothirds of the organisations see the need for a significant shift in their supply chain strategies post-COVID. Another fact he mentioned was that around 60 per cent of organisations optimise for raw material costs, while fewer than 40 per cent optimise for location-based costs.

He concluded his talk by mentioning that visibility, agility, contingency planning and diversification are four important factors for establishing supply chain resilience strategy.