In today’s industrial landscape, smooth supply chain global operations are more vital and unpredictable than ever, while industrial procurement teams constantly navigate through a maze of third-party suppliers, multiple stakeholders, complex equipment requirements, parts shortages, supplier production delays and unforeseeable geo-political events.
This delicate balancing act becomes even more challenging when trying to maintain project schedule, cost, agreed upon deliverables and quality standards.
Heavy industrial facilities rely on specialized equipment and the ripple effect caused by supply chain disruptions can have massive financial and operational consequences.
Top Strategies to Mitigate Supply Chain Risks:
- Project team alignment
- Early planning and risk management
- Proactive communication
- Collaborative tools
- Structured processes
- Supplier monitoring and oversight
- Ongoing risk management
4 Challenges Facing Industrial Procurement Organizations
Challenge 1: Multiple Stakeholder Misalignment
Level-setting procurement expectations with all project stakeholders, including clients, engineers, designers, constructors and third-party suppliers, at project kickoff creates mutual understanding and agreement regarding supplier obligations, quality of deliverables, delivery dates and purchase terms for project team alignment.
Misalignment occurs when suppliers delay order processing or fail to assign resources promptly, causing a ripple effect across a project.
The solution lies in conducting a clear, concise and comprehensive project kickoff meeting where a project execution plan and detailed schedule are mapped out to ensure that everything falls into place. This includes aligning on key dates for submittal of supplier documentation, delivery of components, fabrication, testing and shipment.
The solution also lies in identifying all possible risks that could delay the schedule and putting mitigation plans in place. For example, component delivery delay risk may be mitigated by identifying alternate sources of supply, proactively expediting sub vendors, air freighting components to the fabricator and/or altering the fabrication schedule so other tasks can be performed prior to delivery of a late component.
