supplydisruption

Supply disruption refers to any interruption to the flow of goods, services, or information within a supply chain. It can arise from events that interrupt production, transportation, or demand, and may impact availability, lead times, and costs. Disruptions can be short-lived or persistent and often propagate across suppliers and customers.

Common causes include natural disasters, extreme weather, pandemics, political instability and trade restrictions, strikes, infrastructure failures, transportation bottlenecks, supplier insolvency, quality problems, and cyber incidents. Demand shocks and forecasting errors can also create mismatches between supply and demand, amplifying disruptions.

Impacts include stockouts, production stoppages, increased costs, delayed customer orders, reputation damage, and reduced profitability. Key metrics used to assess disruptions include time-to-recover (TTR), fill rate, order cycle time, and days of inventory outstanding. The severity depends on exposure, time to remediate, and alternative options.

Mitigation and resilience strategies emphasize supply base diversification, dual or multi-sourcing, nearshoring or reshoring, safety stock optimization, supply chain mapping and risk assessment, contingency planning, and collaborative relationships with suppliers. Digital tools, scenario planning, and early warning indicators can improve detection and response. Recent attention focuses on resilience post-crisis planning and government-private sector coordination.