The strength of a business’s supply chain is critical to its continued growth and success. In the face of global disruption and economic instability, many business leaders are looking to shore up the agility and resilience of their supply chains in both the short and long terms.
Given the complexity of managing both domestic and international supply chains, taking a proactive approach to fortifying current supplier and distributor networks can enable leaders to effectively navigate any challenge. Below, 20 Forbes Business Council members discuss what companies can do now to ensure reliable supply chains in the future.
1. Focus On What You Can Control
Change is inevitable at any moment. Focus on what you can control, understanding the current environment and building contingency plans based on cross-functional data. Then, hire and empower highly skilled individuals to execute those plans. With tariffs looming, we made early investments in inventory to hedge economic impact, which gave our team time to develop a long-term strategy. – Carsten Bruhn, Ricoh North America
2. Adopt Advanced Tech And Predictive Analytics
The pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital technologies for supply chain management. A 2023 McKinsey Report showed that 76% of respondents had an advanced planning and scheduling system in place to keep up. As the need for end-to-end visibility and quality data increases, business leaders must implement tech with advanced automations and predictive analytics to succeed. – Rohit Prakash, Coast
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3. Build A Cross-Functional Crisis Team
Create a dynamic, cross-functional crisis response team. This team should be trained to react fast, using a set of predefined, flexible procedures that adapt to various disruptions. Having a proactive, adaptable team in place allows you to minimize downtime, maintain communication flow and ensure the right decisions are made swiftly. This will keep your supply chain operations resilient during disruption. – Michael Shribman, APS Global Partners Inc.
4. Prepare For Delays And Increased Costs
Plan for delays and increased costs as a precaution to help ensure your business can pivot as needed to be as prepared as possible for the unexpected. Disruption that impacts your customers, partners, vendors or other stakeholders can be challenging if not managed as closely as possible. Budgeting for inconveniences in business planning helps prevent them from becoming larger issues. – Anna Horndahl, EY
5. Invest In Real-Time Visibility Tools
Implementing supply chain tracking and analytics tools helps leaders identify disruptions early and adapt quickly. Visibility ensures better forecasting, quicker decisions and stronger supplier coordination. This makes your supply chain more agile and prepared for future shocks. – Beth Worthy, GMR Transcription Services, Inc.
6. Diversify Trade Strategies
Business leaders should diversify trade strategies on both geographical and technological levels. Scenario planning, customs expertise and digital tools like AI can help businesses navigate volatility and reduce risk. Tapping into a global logistics network adds resilience with adaptable shipping options, enabling companies to maintain continuity in uncertain conditions. – Greg Hewitt, DHL Express U.S.
7. Leverage Verified Global POI Data
Use verified global point-of-interest data to map suppliers, distributors and logistics hubs. This visibility helps companies localize operations, build redundancy and respond quickly to disruption, improving resilience and ensuring supply chain continuity in unpredictable markets. – Geoff Michener, dataplor
8. Build Relationship Equity With Key Suppliers
Supply chain resilience isn’t just about having multiple suppliers; it’s about building real trust with the right ones. We’ve seen that the vendors who know you value them are the ones who prioritize you during a crisis. Treating suppliers like partners, not just providers, creates the kind of loyalty that keeps operations moving when the unexpected hits. – Aleksandr Zemel, NYWD
9. Secure Alternative Suppliers
Map every critical supplier and have a backup ready. That clarity will allow businesses to respond quickly instead of being forced to pivot at the last moment. It’s not size that wins, it’s speed, and visibility and planning will buy you both. – Anthony A. Luna, Coastline Equity Property Management
10. Vary Your Supplier Base Across Regions
Diversifying the supplier base across regions reduces dependence on any single source or geography. This mitigates risk and provides flexibility when disruptions occur, enabling quick pivots. Investing in real-time data and supply chain visibility tools also strengthens response times. Proactive scenario-planning and relationship-building with multiple partners are crucial for long-term agility. – Muraly Srinarayanathas, Computek College
11. Optimize Your End-Market Supplier Network
Nearsourcing end-market suppliers and reducing border crossings mean less risk. Build a local supplier network or partner with a provider who has already positioned suppliers strategically. Understand the entire supply chain to avoid getting impacted by costs, tariffs or other disruptions further down the supply chain. Visibility is key, and so are resourceful staff members who are able to react fast to unanticipated changes. – Hannah Kain, ALOM
12. Embed Information Security Into Supplier Processes
One way business leaders can enhance supply chain agility is by embedding information security across the supplier management life cycle. This ensures risk-based requirements are included in contracts and suppliers are categorized by risk levels. Proactive monitoring and responses to changes in supplier risk profiles improve the resilience needed to meet future challenges. – Steve Durbin, ISF Ltd
13. Build In Optionality
One way I’ve approached supply chain resilience is by building in optionality, not just redundancy. It’s not about having more suppliers, but about having flexible partners, adaptable contracts and contingency plans that allow you to pivot fast. In uncertain times, agility comes from choices. The more levers you can pull under pressure, the less exposed you are when disruption hits. – Romain Pison, NoviCarbon
14. Leverage Modern Tech
In an era of disruption, visionary leaders infuse their supply chains with digital intelligence, real-time data, AI foresight and cloud agility. This creates a living, breathing ecosystem that senses shifts, adapts with grace and turns volatility into opportunity. Resilience becomes not just a shield, but a catalyst for future growth and innovation. – Sahit Muja, Albanian Minerals
15. Connect Stakeholders With Collaborative Visibility Platforms
Implement collaborative visibility platforms connecting all stakeholders, from suppliers to customers. This fosters transparent communication, enables early risk identification and creates shared responsibility for resilience. At the same time, management is empowered to make agile, data-driven decisions during disruptions. – Kent Gregoire, Symphony Advantage
16. Advocate For Increased Vertical Integration Investment
Business leaders should advocate for increased investment in vertical integration to reduce supply chain breadth and inherent risk from overexposure. We can build or process most things in the U.S. if we structure businesses appropriately. – David Smith, Robinson Helicopter Company
17. Plan Long-Term Solutions
The pandemic taught companies that relying on a single-efficient supply chain is risky. The lesson, as we all experience with financial investing, is smart diversity, with the extra costs viewed as a hedge. Several have adopted this strategy for the long term; as a result, they can handle the tariff turbulence better. That’s the key lesson: When appropriate, plan solutions for long-term success. – Jerry Cahn, Age Brilliantly
18. Maintain Focus On Team Capacity
As a remote-only software company, our true supply chain is cognitive bandwidth. It’s finite, fragile and easily misallocated. So, we built a system that actively reallocates mental load by automating anything repetitive, minimizing decision fatigue and protecting deep work. We believe that resilience isn’t in speed, but in maintaining focus capacity under pressure. – Ran Ronen, Equally AI
19. Build In Supply Chain Flexibility
It’s essential to always have a Plan B. While global conditions constantly change, the ability of a company to quickly adapt and shift direction is what defines long-term success. Building flexibility into your supply chain—through alternative suppliers, diversified logistics or scalable processes—ensures that you’re not caught off guard and can continue operating, even in times of disruption. – Jekaterina Beljankova, WALLACE s.r.o
20. Stress Test Your Supply Chain
Don’t just map your supply chain—stress test it by running scenarios. Break it on paper before it breaks in real life. Diversify vendors, build local backups and stop pretending just-in-time solutions work in a world that’s anything but stable. Resilience isn’t luck; it’s leadership. Agility is a choice you make before the crisis hits, not while you’re scrambling to survive it. Plan like you mean it. – Aleesha Webb, Pioneer Bank
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