Title: Amplifiers of Supply Chain Disruptions: A Managerial Framework for Reducing the Impact of Disruption to the Supply Chain | SCM | Supply Chain Resource Cooperative (SCRC) | North Carolina State UniversitySupply Chain Resource Cooperative | NC State University
Headings: Amplifiers of Supply Chain Disruptions: A Managerial Framework for Reducing the Impact of Disruption to the Supply Chain
Amplifiers of Supply Chain Disruptions: A Managerial Framework for Reducing the Impact of Disruption to the Supply Chain
Amplifiers of Supply Chain Disruptions
The extent to which a firm relies on global sources of supply
The complexity of the product or process
Table 1 – Global Sourcing Amplifiers of Disruption
Table 2 – Product / Process Complexity Amplifiers of Disruption

Content: Language and timezone differences for example, delay responses, as opposed to working with a supplier who is local and speaks the same language. Further, as the length of the lead-time required to obtain shipments from these locations for domestic imports increases, so does the time that a firm has to react to a disruption which therefore may reduce the potential impact. Consider the following: * A major retailer that imports the majority of its products from China was devastated by the West Coast Port strike, which caused many of its products to be out-of-stock during the critical Christmas season. Although the exact number of lost sales is unknown, estimates are that millions of dollars were lost due to “out of stocks” when customers could not find the items they wanted and went elsewhere to purchase them. Further, the cost of recovering containers and shipments that were “lost” in the melee ran into millions of dollars. * A retailer stated that the most severe types of supply chain disruptions occurred in overseas location due to poor communication and customs procedures at major shipping ports, as well as slowdowns attributed to labor disputes in specific countries. He also noted however that planning around these disruptions was possible, as some of them were predictable. For example, labor strikes in shipping, trains, and transportation seem to occur almost every year in the summer between Wednesday and Friday, so that workers get an extended holiday weekend! * At a major textile/chemical company, lead-times for raw materials from a sole source supplier in Japan were six months.