Supply Chain Resilience Audits

Trend Definition 

What is the essence of this trend? What is its impact? 

• Essence: Supply chain resilience audits evaluate supply chain processes, operations, and partners to identify vulnerabilities (e.g., supplier redundancy, geopolitical risks, financial stability)
• Impact: These audits increase supply chain transparency and enhance risk preparedness and operational efficiency while strengthening supplier relationships and creating a more resilient, adaptable supply chain ecosystem

Trend Drivers 

Why is this trend emerging now? What’s changing? 

• Financial Risks and Operational Efficiency: Recognition of disruption risks and the resulting financial implications push companies to conduct resilience audits to maintain operational efficiency and financial stability
• Supplier Diversification: While this trend is beneficial for resilience in general, it also increases the need for more extensive supply chain audits due to the decentralisation of suppliers
• Compliance with Evolving Global Standards: New regulations and standards around the world emphasising supply chain resilience and sustainability (e.g., LkSG)

Use Cases 

How to apply this trend? 

• Visibility Vanguard: Assess the potential impact of a disruption
  Example: Resilience-fostering software such as “Resilinc” offers a cloud-based audit platform to increase transparency in procurement and to quickly assess the total impact of an event which enables the procurement team to quickly address these potential problems
• Robust Risk Radar: Comprehensive risk overview
  Example: MetricStream provides a risk management platform tailored to supply chains. It offers audit management tools to prevent risks that can lead to procurement disruptions, allowing valuable insights for procurement teams of every organisation

Procurement Relevance & Response Strategies 

How should Procurement adapt its Processes, Organisation, and Strategy?

• Fast Adoption and “Just-in-case approach”: Conducting a procurement risk audit in the near future and building scenarios and risk mitigation strategies based on the outcome will be crucial for the organisation
• Critical Inputs: Companies should identify their critical inputs and assess how they are secured in case of disruption and whether adjustments are necessary