Uncertainty can be categorized in continuous risk, more slowly changing patterns, and disruptions, which describe abrupt changes in a system.
Tomlin (2006) investigates the question which supply chain strategies perform best when dealing with the later.
Mitigation vs. Contingency Planning
From case studies analyzed in literature the author first deducts disruption management strategies used in practices. The summary can be seen in figure 1.
Yet another case study. This time on strategic network design. Why? A major problem for businesses is to find the right strategy for a given situation. And “right” here means optimal (for a given KPI).
Research question might be: Are there general categories which can be used to make different decision situations comparable? And if yes, what would optimal strategies under these circumstances be?
Supply chains risks can also be analyzed in a specific industry context and this is exactly what Agrell et al. (2004) did with telecom supply chains. They used a three tier SC (2nd tier supplier, EMS, OEM) to include the selection, coordination and motivation of independently operating suppliers in the model.
Stress tests are an acknowledged method to test systems under extreme conditions. The method is not only used in engineering (eg. Great picture of a Boing wing stress test (Guardian Eyewitness)), but also in business, most notably and in the banking industry. But can this method also be used to test supply chain designs?
Many companies are struggling with the idea to use modern optimization techniques to support decision making in strategic supply chain management.
But beside mathematical modeling of the supply chain there are other methods as well, such as network based approaches. In their 2005 paper Blackhurst, Wu and O’Grady present a more intuitive decision support method with the goal to improve decisions within the supply chain context.
