Supply Chain Disruptions Are Inevitable—Get READI Resiliency Enhancement Analysis via Deletion and Insertion

• Published in: Transportation journal Vol. 52; no. 2; pp. 264 - 276
• Main Authors: Harrison, Terry P., Houm, P. J., Thomas, Douglas J., Craighead, Christopher W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lock Haven Pennsylvania State University Press 01-04-2013; Penn State University Press; American Society of Transportation and Logistics, Inc
• Subjects: Analysis; Business; Capital costs; Cost allocation; Efficiency; Logistics; Materials flow analysis; Network optimization; Optimization; Production costs; Public Policy; Risk management; Studies; Supply; Supply chain management; Supply chains; Technology; United States
• ISSN: 0041-1612; 2157-328X
• DOI: 10.5325/transportationj.52.2.0264

Companies have increasingly turned to the use of optimization to create value and drive efficiencies in their supply chains. However, this practice also exposes the firm to increased levels of risk stemming from supply chain disruptions which can be quite costly relative to both short- and long-term performance. In response, companies need to build and maintain resilience to combat these disruptive events. Yet managers struggle with how to build resilience and where to focus resiliency enhancements. This article proposes a versatile optimization approach, READI—Resiliency Enhancement Analysis via Deletion (of key supply chain node, flow, or activity) and Insertion (of mitigation strategy), and demonstrates this approach on the supply chain of a major consumer products company. READI can be enlightening relative to both descriptive insights, such as the criticality of supply chain nodes and current levels of network resilience, and prescriptive insights, such as where to implement resiliency enhancements.