Warehouse worker wearing protective mask to Protect Against Covid-19 and checking production process in a large warehouse.

How to build supply chains that balance efficiency with resiliency

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2 minute read 24 Jan 2022
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Supply-chain

Amid the pandemic, P&G’s IWS and end-to-end integration delivered through massive supply chain disruption.

Questions to ask

  • How should enterprises navigate the “never-normal” with resiliency, agility and efficiency?
  • What’s the best way to build a culture of continuous improvement?
  • Are you prepared to put your supply chain to the test of the next major disruption?

How does a multinational corporation plan for a once-in-a-lifetime event — one that upends the nature of work, scrambles and freezes the flow of goods across the world, and instantly and dramatically changes what consumers need and how they want to buy it? In this environment, is success measured in how much a company can endure or thrive?

Long before the pandemic became an inescapable reality, Procter & Gamble (P&G) had been asking tough questions about how to build global supply chain and manufacturing operations that balance efficiency with resiliency. Over time, the organization made a name for itself as a leader — it estimates that it averaged more than 5% in year-over-year productivity increase over the past decade across supply chain operations. That’s one reason why a tier-one analyst firm has named P&G as a supply chain master ever since the category was created in 2015.

But could its employees, systems and methodologies withstand the biggest challenge to business that most of us have ever experienced?

Download the whitepaper: How P&G’s supply chain excellence positioned it to prosper in disruption

PDF (6 MB)

How EY can help

P&G offers a case study in navigating the “never-normal” with resiliency, agility and flexibility — not just in consumer products but for all manufacturers. We explore details of how P&G used its proprietary Integrated Work System (IWS) methodology and end-to-end supply chain integration to thrive across the past 18 months while honing its capabilities to confront the next disruption that’s always just around the corner. 

 

This way of working has helped P&G meet its customer needs, hit sales targets, increase customer value, improve operational efficiency, and satisfy its compliance/risk mandates during one of the more turbulent times in modern history.

 

P&G effectively illustrates what a resilient supply chain looks like at a time when economic, social, environmental, geopolitical, and other crises seemingly manifest themselves several times a quarter. While none of us can predict the future, it’s a safe bet that more disruption is on the horizon, and perhaps the only way to confront it is through resiliency — a combination of greater visibility and agility.

 

More unexpected disruptions will hit supply chains and impact overall business performance. Download (pdf) a new white paper to learn about the five pillars of resilient supply chains. You will also gain an understanding from Procter and Gamble’s example in balancing resiliency and sustainability in a world that the global pandemic has profoundly changed.

Summary 

Before the pandemic, just-in-time and cost-optimized supply chains predominated. However, these tightly synchronized supply chain models were prone to disruption and many failed to keep up as demand for goods wildly fluctuated during global lockdowns. However, not all companies struggled during the pandemic. A culture of continuous improvement, supply chain sustainability and resilience is a way of life for some of the world’s most successful companies. The lessons learned from P&G can help enterprises navigate through whatever supply chain challenges come next.

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Authors

Contributors

Related topics
Supply-chain

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