{"id":99906,"date":"2022-10-05T14:22:45","date_gmt":"2022-10-05T18:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/envistacorp.techyscouts.dev\/?p=99906"},"modified":"2023-09-05T12:13:37","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T16:13:37","slug":"good-news-and-bad-news-in-supply-chains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/envistacorp.techyscouts.dev\/en-au\/2022\/10\/05\/good-news-and-bad-news-in-supply-chains\/","title":{"rendered":"Good News and Bad News in Supply Chains"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Now That My Mother and Everyone Else Knows What a Supply Chain Is, It\u2019s Time We Fix It<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By Dan Avila, Vice President of Sales, Consulting & Automation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good news:<\/em><\/strong> Everyone, including my mother, now knows what a supply chain is.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bad news:<\/em><\/strong> Supply chains have never been more broken.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took a global pandemic for everyone, including my mother, to understand what a supply chain is and its importance. Being in supply chain consulting for over 20 years, I have been explaining to family, friends, acquaintances and anyone else who would listen what exactly a supply chain is. Most of my explanations would fall on deaf ears as most everyone would simply shrug their shoulders and didn\u2019t care. As long as their goods were available at their favorite retail outlets, it didn\u2019t matter how goods were planned for, forecasted, manufactured, transported and distributed \u2013 as long as they got their products when and where they wanted them. Flash forward to the pandemic and their favorite products are delayed or not on the shelves; everyone suddenly wants to know what this supply chain thing is and why it\u2019s broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenges With Lead Times<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the key reasons we are not seeing our products on shelves is due to extended and highly variable lead times faced by the sourcing and manufacturing processes. We have all heard of the semi-conductor and other electronic component delays which have gone from a typical lead time of 16 weeks to as high as 52 weeks. There are many causes of extended lead times including raw materials shortages, labour shortages, port congestion, transportation equipment and driver shortages and more. Variable lead times are also a challenge as we may become accustomed to dealing with and planning for extended but at least consistent lead times, but when lead times are variable and inconsistent, we face additional challenges and disruptions. The bottom line here is that each and every supply chain is unique, and we consult our clients on understanding the very specific dynamics that are leading to their specific lead time challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tactics to Improve Lead Times<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once we have a handle on the root causes of our lead time issues, we can go about problem solving around solutions to reduce lead times and lead time variability. At enVista, we frequently perform global supply chain network studies<\/a> to help our clients reduce the total time and cost for products to make their journey through the supply chain \u2013 all the way from source to consumption by their customers. We have recommended and implemented many tactics to reduce cost and lead times including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n