COVID-19 caught most organisations by surprise, with 72% of UK businesses reporting that they have struggled to recover from supply chain disruptions, according to recent research.
As two-thirds recognise that there is a need for a significant shift in their supply chain strategy, a new report by Capgemini dives into how businesses have acted during the initial shock period brought on by the pandemic, and how organisations are planning for the future.
The report, ‘Fast forward: Rethinking supply chain resilience for a post-Covid-19 world’, outlines key areas that organisations must focus on to ensure supply chain resilience and withstand the uncertain future.
It found that organisations are not actively preparing for another disruption; while 60% of UK businesses recognise a need for a significant shift in operations, only 39% are regularly partaking in scenario planning exercises and 26% have invested in preventative measures such as control towers.
The report also found that recovering has been slow, with more than two thirds (68%) of organisations taking over three months to recuperate from disruptions brought on by the pandemic. Challenges faced by the pandemic were felt across all layers of the supply chain with production being the most commonly cited obstacle (77%) due to scaling and reconfiguring production lines, while 71% faced difficulty with the lack of information and data available.
