IDENTIFICATION AND MITIGATION OF RISKS IN SUPPLY CHAIN POST PANDEMIC

Supply chain network is one component that has a direct effect on the organizational success or failure. Companies have huge number of moneys tied up in their supply chain. This in turn influences the working capital cycle and the overall profitability. Increasing competition and customer awareness demands that goods and services be made available as and when they are needed. Failing to do so might result in a situation when even the loyal customers or brand patrons switch to other available options and alternatives. As it is with customers, once they are dissatisfied with the company, there is no looking back. When the business loses a customer, it also loses thousands of other prospective customers that this loyal customer would have brought. Besides this, with every passing day the cost of finance is increasing speedily and the only way to keep up with the desired profit levels is to reduce these money costs. A highly efficient supply network addresses both these issues. Goods are made available to the customers before or just in time of need and the costs tied up in inventory is also minimized to a great extent. In this paper I want to focus specifically on supply chain network, during and after a pandemic (here COVID-19). Proper analysis of challenges that the pandemic has thrown would be discussed along with the steps corporates and sellers are taking to overcome this obstacle. I shall be evaluating the vulnerabilities that COVID-19 has exposed supply chains to. Thereafter assessment will be done about how companies are responding to the changed dynamics. In the paucity of available literature, instead of literature review fact, figures and statistical findings will be analysed to obtain a clear picture. Viewpoints from industry leaders shall also be considered, to come up with a broad framework of how to deal with turbulent times in the future.