Strategies for controls engineers to mitigate supply-chain disruptions in machine building
Industrial supply-chain managers have been faced with a multitude of challenges in recent years. From the COVID-19 pandemic to geopolitical tumult, military conflicts and extreme weather events. While some of these issues may subside in 2025, new challenges, such as the impact of expected tariffs on supply chains, threaten additional disruption. As the adage goes, change is the only constant. That’s why embracing strategies that can build supply chain resilience has never been more important.
Supply chains face some key risks in the machine-building sector, but there are ways to mitigate them. Greater supply chain visibility, more collaborative and diversified supplier relationships and leaner manufacturing are paving the way for fewer disruptions, but their efficacy relies on more businesses embracing innovative technologies.
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Assessing and managing risks in machine-building supply chains
Assessing and managing risks in any supply chain can usually be divided into five phases, as V.M. Rao Tummula and Tobias Schoenherr prescribed in their white paper, "Assessing and Managing Risks: Using the Supply Chain Risk Management Process (SCRMP)," on ResearchGate:
- risk identification
- risk measurement and assessment
- risk evaluation
- risk mitigation and contingency plans
- risk control monitoring.
What underpins each of these is the need for accurate data and data systems that allow logistics and supply-chain leaders to not only see what’s on the supply-chain horizon, but to monitor exactly where intervention can be performed at any given moment.
The job of supply-chain risk management and trying to avoid supply-chain disruptions is further complicated by the fact that strategies need to include a look at both internal production processes and external risks.
Machine breakdowns are as important to keep an eye on as the potential impact of climate change and increased natural disasters. Controls engineers know better than anyone that the secret to withstanding such pressures is less about the actions taken in response to each crisis and more about the systems in place that ensure that manufacturing rolls along regardless.
Enhancing supply-chain visibility and control through technology
Machine-building supply chains are complex beasts. Tracking risks from all sides and being nimble enough to respond to them requires embracing technology that creates more visible and data-driven supply chains.
Real-time transportation visibility platforms (RTTVPs) are one of the most important innovations driving the new era of supply-chain visibility and control. These platforms rely on a mix of the global positioning system (GPS) and telematics to track shipments and provide live updates on both the location and status of goods in transit. Used as part of a transportation management system (TMS), they can be an integral part of optimized route planning and transportation.
Also in the realm of tracking technology are Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices and radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags. IoT sensors play a crucial role in supply chain visibility, thanks to their ability to collect data on everything from location to temperature and send out automated alerts if conditions change or hit concerning thresholds. RFID tags use radio frequencies to help businesses to keep track of inventory.
What all this technology does when used together is provide decision makers with the data and insight that they need to maintain manufacturing systems and schedules. Scheduling systems powered by artificial intelligence (AI) can even be integrated to automate some of this work and further streamline supply-chain control.
Strategizing supplier diversification and collaboration
The benefit of accurate tracking technology and the data it collects is that it’s far easier to see which suppliers are consistent and which have become mired in disruption. This then allows for better strategizing on where diversification in the machine-building supply chain needs to occur.
Diversification and the flexibility it offers is a fundamental part of supply chain resilience, but so is collaboration, at least from a data perspective. As Deloitte pointed out in its Business Operations Room blog post titled, "Harnessing the power of supply chain collaboration: Supply chain resilience and risk management," collaborating and sharing information on capacities and capabilities builds trust and allows all those within that network to detect risks far earlier and respond to them more quickly, too.
It allows supply-chain managers to more accurately balance the external risks mentioned earlier, alongside internal ones, so that more informed manufacturing decisions can be made if it looks like a certain part will be delayed.
Applying lean manufacturing for increased flexibility
Lean manufacturing is an umbrella term that covers varied approaches that all aim to do the same thing: cut back production activities that don’t add value, while prioritizing quality and meeting customer demand. One of the most effective of these measures is just-in-time (JIT) production.
The risk with leaner approaches such as JIT is the potential for stockouts and disruptions. The solution, however, isn’t to abandon these highly efficient measures but to revamp them, as ManMohan S. Sodhi and Thomas Y. Choi suggest in their Harvard Business Review article, "Don’t Abandon Your Just-In-Time Supply Chain, Revamp It."
This includes identifying priority parts and stockpiling those if data suggests they’re vulnerable, investing in tracking technology and buffers, such as more collaborative relationships with suppliers.
Looking forward
In an increasingly unpredictable global landscape, supply chain managers in the machine-building sector must proactively address challenges with resilience-focused strategies. By leveraging advanced technologies for real-time visibility, fostering diversified and collaborative supplier relationships, and by embracing lean manufacturing with adaptive safeguards, they can mitigate disruptions and maintain operational continuity.
The key lies in combining innovative tools with data-driven decision-making to ensure that production systems remain agile and efficient, regardless of external pressures. With these strategies, manufacturers are well-equipped to navigate the evolving complexities of supply chain management and drive sustainable success.
