Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world in early 2020, many supply chains have been under higher-than-usual stress.

The early lockdown measures taken to curb the spread of the coronavirus increased demand for certain household items, such as hand sanitizer and cold and flu medication, by as much as 250%, according to TechTarget. This sharp uptick left store shelves bereft of these products and others for months. Meanwhile, some manufacturing operations ground to a halt, due to lack of essential material from their far-flung, globe-spanning network of suppliers.

As we can see, both constrained supply and volatile demand have created major challenges in supply chain management (SCM) — and these issues probably aren’t set to go away any time soon. The timing of a COVID-19 vaccine remains uncertain as of late 2020, plus the ongoing movement toward online shopping as well as curbside and in-store pickup, means that many organizations need to modernize their supply chains accordingly.

Collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment (CPFR) is pivotal in this context. Let’s look at some of the overarching issues that have emerged during the pandemic, along with how CPFR in general and Inspirage’s solution in particular can help.

Issue No. 1: The need for rapid response to emerging supply constraints

Because so many supply chains are global, they are vulnerable to multiple possible supply constraints. Hyundai, for instance, sourced key components from China and had to suspend manufacturing once it ran out and couldn’t procure more due to coronavirus-related measures in China proper. High-tech items such as some consumer electronics have also gone through periods of short supply over the years, not just because of the COVID-19 outbreak but because of other disruptions like the 2011 Thailand floods. CPFR solutions can help enterprises have better visibility to emerging supply constraints and adjust their manufacturing or sourcing plan accordingly.

Issue No. 2: Finding the signal in the channel data noise

The surges in demand for cleaning products as COVID-19 spread caught some organizations off-guard. Shortcomings related to inventory management in particular contributed to this situation:

• The long-term trend toward reducing inventory throughout the supply chain, e.g. as part of a just-in-time production model.
• The setting of safety stock levels to guard against “normal” fluctuations in demand, leaving no room for major disruptions.
• Lack of visibility into inbound materials, demand signals from customers and channel data more broadly.

CPFR solutions provide a platform to continuously monitor demand signals and to prepare businesses to be able to quickly respond to rapidly changing demand. Once the demand surge signal is identified, enterprises can quickly restructure the supply chain to meet the demand. Alternate suppliers, manufacturing resource reallocation and other approaches can be executed to respond the demand changes.

Issue No. 3: Re-architecting the business model

Depending on the business in question, efficiently managing inventory in the COVID-19 world may require finetuning SCM processes and solutions to support new business models. For example, increased online order volume and growing consumer preference for curbside or in-store pickup mean that more retailers might repurpose their physical spaces as fulfillment centers. Such fundamental changes in turn affect inventory management and provide a natural opportunity for CFPR implementation. CPFR can provide a platform to manage inventory consignment and replenishment processes that may arise from those situations.

What is CPFR, exactly? It’s the combination of multiple sales and operations planning activities, for the purpose of improved forecasting accuracy, fewer stockouts and more resilient inventory management. The Inspirage Multi-Channel CFPR Solution uses the Oracle Integration Cloud to pull data from numerous sources, to enable:

• Rapid responses to changes in supply and demand.
• Granular control over channel inventory levels.
• Improved visibility into consumption across distribution channels.
• Item proliferation management (e.g., removal of slow-moving products).
• Exception for preventing stockouts and excess inventory.

Overall, the Inspirage Multi-Channel CFPR Solution ensures that your business has reliable data across the entire supply chain, enabling better decision-making and supply chain management. Learn more by connecting with one of our supply chain experts today.