What Are Some of The Issues in Supply Chain Management?

When you get your supply chain graduate certificate online, you could wind up finding a job in the position of a higher-up and dealing with the supply chain. You need to be prepared to deal with some issues … and your company will want you to come up with some solutions. Take a look at these reasons why the supply chain is still struggling to get back entirely on track – and think of what you could possibly do to fix things.

The Material is Scarce

While this situation is much better than it was in 2021, there are still some shortages in some places. This might be because of a recall – like with the Abbott baby formula recall. Other times, manufacturers cannot keep up with the demand and consumers cannot get their hands on what they want. They could wind up paying higher prices to people who gouge them or they just go without. If they go without, though, there is always the risk that they might not come back.

This is where supply chain management can be difficult. You might do everything right on your side, but you are still reliant on others coming through for you. It’s like you hit a triple but the next three batters all strike out. That can be a very aggravating thing to deal with. But would you be able to come up with back-up systems that could keep things from getting too far out of hand?

It Costs More To Send Things Via Freight

While the whole container ship fiasco has slowly but surely started to become resolved, there are still a lot of people who want to use freight. That increases the demand … and the prices for these things go up. That’s going to be hard on a company’s budget. So again, do you risk things not getting sent and potentially losing customers for good or do you roll up your sleeves and come up with a solution while keeping the budget from dipping too far into the red?

It’s Difficult to Forecast Things

The recent pandemic – and the possibility of things going haywire again at any given time if a new dangerous strain arises – makes it difficult to figure out what could be needed in the future. A lot of stores tried to overcompensate for lost business, and they wound up getting too many things that they could possibly keep on site. That then presented the problem of trying to sell all these items to make room for more.

In the best of times, predicting what will be needed at any given moment, can be murky and hazy. When there are other factors like a virus rampaging around the world, it makes looking into a crystal ball as clear as peering at a bowling ball. Nothing makes sense. So do you rely on luck or are you going to come up with a way to ensure that your organization is going to get everything that it needs?

The Ports Are Congested

This is a problem that has been easing – when certain politicians are not doing publicity stunts – but the ports are still crowded. It’s going to take time to get things unloaded. The saying “Time is Money” has never rang truer. If you are in charge of the supply chain for your company, are you going to come up with alternate ways to send things? Can you think outside the box?

Consumers Are Changing Their Attitudes

Here is a problem that you do not have a say in entirely. People can be quite fickle. They can change their minds about what they want. That is not within your control. Yes, you can look at analytics until you are blue, but they still may not do what you want. Can you quickly pivot?

These are just some of the things you may encounter. But if you apply what you learn with the certificate program and use your own intuition, you could ultimately do something successful.