SCMG301 Assignment 3

Supply Chain Flexibility and its Role in Strengthening Supply Chain Resilience Student Name Institution Course Professor Name Date Supply Chain Flexibility and its Role in Strengthening Supply Chain Resilience Supply chain mapping enables organizations to map their networks, detect weaknesses, and know where they should be flexible in the event of disruptions. Schlegel and Trent (2014) found that the heat map tool is a structured means of judging maturity in ten areas which include leadership, IT systems, logistics, demand management and supply base, and assists firms in analyzing their ability to adapt in a time of uncertainty. Flexibility forms the basis of resilience as it defines the speed at which a company can adapt operations, alter the capacity or rearrange sourcing strategies in case of an external shock. There are four significant types of flexibility that include manufacturing flexibility, supply base flexibility, logistics flexibility and IT/visibility flexibility which offer critical capabilities needed by organizations that aim at continuity and minimizing risk. The manufacturing flexibility is the capability of a company to modify the volume of production, product mixes, or to change the location of manufacturing process when there is disruption. According to Schlegel and Trent (2014), supply chain maturity helps lower risk exposure since the flexible manufacturing systems will be in a better position to absorb the shock. The ability to rearrange production lines can be exemplified by companies like Toyota and BMW which have created production lines that are modular in nature to enable them to quickly adjust the level of output during emergencies, such as the shortages of semiconductors. Rojo-Gallego-Burin et al. (2020) posits that the manufacturing flexibility contributes to responsiveness and allows companies to balance service provision during the unpredictable demand patterns. The intended results are the decrease in downtime, better customer service, and increased ...