SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES
“ Analytics and AI now enable organisations to detect early signals and potential ripple effects of disruptive events with greater precision”
David Weeks Supply Chain Industry Practice Lead Moody’ s
Despite improving tools, structural blind spots still persist. These do not sit with the favourite suppliers with whom you have regular conversations, but with the suppliers under the radar that they cannot see.“ One of the biggest blind spots is limited visibility beyond Tier 1 suppliers,” says David.“ Risks embedded in these sub-tiers can have a domino effect, taking key inputs offline and disrupting operations well beyond that initial node.
“ A Tier 2 or 3 supplier may quietly deteriorate under rising cost pressures, such as tariffs, and this often goes unnoticed until a force majeure declaration or production stoppage brings it to light.”
THE SHIFT FROM LAGGING TO LEADING INDICATORS
The traditional model:
• KPI tracking and quarterly reviews
• Lesson learned and the actions taken to rectify problems
• Point-in-time supplier assessments
The new model:
• Continuous, real-time supplier monitoring
• AI-driven early warning signals across sub-tiers
• Predictive risk scoring for both financial health and geopolitical exposure