You're facing potential stockouts due to supplier lead time delays. How will you prevent inventory shortages?

I think we need to have list of all the critical and long lead item list always ready with us and regular monitoring on monthly basis need to be done for long lead items based on safety stock. Once the stock has reached the safety stock it’s procurement process need to be started to ensure availability of material. We may do ARC for these item based on consumption basis to avoid any delay in procurement process. Vendor management inventory is also can be taken up based on consumption pattern.

Risk assessment is crucial for mitigating inventory shortages caused by supplier lead time delays. By systematically evaluating potential disruptions, businesses can implement proactive strategies to safeguard stock levels.   A sequential risk assessment can use the following chronological steps. 1 - Identifying Potential Risk. 2 - Assessing risk impact 3 - Determining risk probability & Prioritizing it according to probability. 4 - Develop mitigation strategies and try a test-run even if its on a small scale to see the actual results.

Material Requirement Planning (MRP) is one tool which helps in maintaining a stock for frequently used consumables and material. For critical items with high lead time, proper planning considering the lead time and availability of the material with timely placing of order and regular follow up for delivery of material. Non critical items sometimes also become critical if proper stock is not maintained.So a timely audit of stock,inventory management,timely placing of material,and follow up for on-time delivery. In addition to that equipment make in case of OEM items as well as indigenous or local development of material if possible also sometimes becomes helpful in urgent/ critical situation. ARC with easily reachable vendors and Vendor mng

To prevent inventory shortages due to supplier lead time delays: 1) Increase safety stock levels. 2) Source alternative suppliers 3) Improve demand forecasting. 4) Negotiate faster shipping options. 5) Use inventory management software. 6) Communicate proactively with suppliers.

Según mi experiencia, lo ideal es tener un stock de seguridad contemplando las posibilidades de que esto suceda. También es bueno tener distintas alternativas de entrega, que puedan acortar los tiempos de la misma. Mantener un contacto y seguimiento constante con el proveedor, puede hacer que podamos solucionar el conflicto lo antes posible. La posibilidad de no depender de un solo proveedor y acordar con los mismos que tengan un stock de seguridad propio, podria evitar el conflicto.

I think that we need to be careful and identify the stock items into high demand items and low demand items. In addition to that we should set a minimum stock and also maximum stock to keep balance inside the warehouse.

One afternoon at work, I faced similar challenges in my line of work, I realised the magnitude of risk assessment, increasing safety stock, find alternate supplier in local area of business, shorter lead time, order planning and clear communication to avoid chaos and conduct smooth operations.

We need to understand that e-commerce is a supply chain business, and Amazon is a supply chain company. How well we forge this connection will determine how effectively we absorb risks from suppliers, lead times, and demand variations.

Analyze your supply chain and identify the suppliers that are critical to your business operations. Categorize your suppliers based on factors like lead time, criticality, and risk. Evaluate and qualify alternative suppliers that can provide the same or similar products as your critical suppliers, ensure they meet your quality, cost, and delivery requirements. Develop relationships with multiple suppliers for your critical products. This reduces your reliance on a single supplier and mitigates the risk of stock-outs if one supplier experiences delays.

Increase the skyline to the demand forecast , it help the supplier to get row material and process it on time and prevent shortages

Set the service level right and assess the demand distribution. If both these are known and if lead time variations are able to fit into normal distribution, then by scientific inventory models we can determine the right inventory to meet the service level target that is set.