Supply Chain Resilience : Push and Pull in Catastrophes
The coronavirus pandemic is , in many ways , endemic to demand and supply networks . The contagion spreads through social encounters , many involving commercial activities . Transmission has often been combatted by constricting commercial activities , which in turn impacts related demand and supply behaviors . The virus itself and efforts to combat the virus have prompted demand shocks , supply shocks , and sustained stress on many supply chains . The pandemic has conducted a real-time stress test of the innate dynamics of demand and supply networks .
The pull of demand on supply chains has long been recognized as fundamental to flows . But disaster response has not yet given enough emphasis to the strategic primacy of pull . Because contemporary demand and supply networks are organized around pull signals the loss of this element can be especially devastating . During the Spring 2020 pandemic response , we have also seen that where pull persists , supply networks are tenacious pushing toward pull . Reduce pull and supply chains will not be as resilient . Preserve or quickly restore pull and this will energize surviving elements of the supply network to push whatever , whenever and wherever possible . Post-Cascadia and in most disasters both demand and supply are seriously disrupted . There are many well-practiced methods for surging supply . We need to develop new playbooks for reclaiming effective expression of demand .
Author Capsule Bio
One of the nation ’ s preeminent food supply chain specialists , Phillip Palin served as the principal investigator for Supply Chain Resilience with the Institute for Public Research of the nonprofit CNA Corporation and with the Resilient America Roundtable of the National Academies of Sciences , Engineering , and Medicine . He is the subject matter expert for Supply Chain Resilience with the FEMA-National Integration Center Technical Assistance Program and served as team leader for FEMA ’ s supply chain Ecosystem Assessment . He recently received the American Logistics Aid Network ’ s Lifetime Achievement Award .
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