Article
The Ripple Effect
How manufacturing and retail executives view the growing challenge of supply chain risk
Supply chains are becoming highly sophisticated and vital to the competitiveness of many companies. But their interlinked, global nature also makes them increasingly vulnerable to a range of risks.
Deloitte survey of 600 executives at manfacturing and retail companies
A number of internal and external forces are converging to raise the risk ante for global supply chains. Some are macro trends such as globalization and global connectivity, which can make supply chains more complex and amplify the impact of problems that may arise. Others stem from the push to improve efficiency and reduce operating costs. Although trends such as lean manufacturing, just-in-time inventory, reduced product lifecycles, outsourcing, and supplier consolidation have yielded compelling business benefits, they have also introduced new kinds of supply chain risk and reduced the margin for error.