Secret Revealed: How to Disruption-Proof Your Service Supply Chain

There is no value in being comfortable in chess. That is why chess masters constantly seek bigger and better challenges. It’s why grandmasters like Bobby Fischer often play dozens of players consecutively and world champion Garry Kasparov took on IBM’s Deep Blue computer at the height of his career—and lost.

In this sedentary sport, there is no resting on laurels for champions. The same is true in business. To succeed, companies must be in a constant state of preparing for threats from all directions, especially as we continue to live with and work to understand our COVID-shaped world.

The huge silver lining of preparedness.

Yes, we’re in the midst of the worst global recession since WWII thanks to the pandemic. Yes, the World Trade Organization predicted in October that global trade could fall by an annual amount of 9.2%. And, yes, experts also predict we could still be in for another year of disruptions as second and third waves of infection sweep across the world.

But that doesn’t change the fact that we are also in the middle of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and many of the evolutions that are occurring such as the digitization of processes were inevitable anyway. The lingering pandemic does not change the fact that companies around the world still need your technology.

Serious chess players prepare for every potentiality so they can take advantage of every opportunity. They don’t quit when things don’t go as expected. They see every move as bringing new possibilities to win. How about you?

Disrupted or uninterrupted — your choice.

If disruption brings opportunity, then planning for potential risks should be viewed as a growth strategy. It puts companies in the position to anticipate and capitalize on challenges by being the hero to customers.

There are many examples of companies rushing in to satisfy needs, proving themselves to customers, and then gaining market share during the current pandemic as well as past disasters and economic turns. By helping companies overcome adversity more efficiently and avoid panic decisions, Flash has helped its clients succeed in numerous cases during the current downturn.

We’ve seen businesses stay competitive in this changing economic landscape by driving down equipment costs while maintaining strong and globally compliant spare parts distribution networks. These strategies are good policies in any economic environment. That’s why it pays for companies to carefully vet and constantly monitor their after-sales supply chain service partners. Doing so establishes a collaboration that helps ensure the next recession or massive disruption is not as much of a threat as it is an opportunity to grow or at least maintain.

Know your risks — and play to them.

After Kasparov’s loss to Deep Blue, he struggled with the threat to his reputation and relevance. That’s not much different than companies’ mindsets during the pandemic. How do you protect your brand reputation, offer relevant customer service, and remain profitable during a time of continued uncertainty?

Enterprises that manage to build risk mitigation measures into their supply chains and keep the end-customer front and center of their business strategies, even in a recession, stand to gain against their competitors who have not. Experience management firm Qualtrics reported that organizations that led in customer experience in 2018 outperformed laggards on the S&P 500 by nearly 80%.

Teamwork is the success-multiplier.

Pandemic or no, today’s customer service expectations mean a coordinated after-sales supply chain strategy is critical to the survival of your business. Take control of your inventory costs through end-to-end visibility. Establish importer and exporter of record (IOR/EOR) services as you expand into new countries. And seek a partner with global connections, capital, and experience to anticipate your current and future needs.

By fulfilling on these three fronts, a global service supply chain company such as Flash Global can help ensure you are set up for success during times of worldwide system failure.

There’s no better time to rethink preparedness.

In 2020, we overwhelmingly saw that survival wasn’t something you fight for. Rather it was something you partner for. Collaboration was the key that has led our customers to success.

A partnership with Flash prepares companies so that disruption doesn’t lead to service interruption. Our range of services lays the groundwork for companies to support their customers’ uptime requirements while reducing cost and accelerating revenue.

Flash’s service supply chain was built to handle chaos — we’re a 24/7/365 9-1-1 agile operation. We know what steps to take to keep parts moving, no matter how bad things get. During COVID, most service supply chains failed – Flash did not. Getting closer to our customers through communication and, in turn, helping them get closer physically to their customers through global spare parts management strategies was the deciding factor in their business continuity and ultimate success.

When your game gets turned over. Find the upside.

Preparedness is easier said than done. But almost no business can keep its finger on the pulse of what’s going on, and what’s possible, in global trade alone. Choose a partner who can leverage leading-edge proficiencies like geospatial modeling and IOR/EOR capabilities in over 95 countries to continuously optimize your global spare parts supply chain—and to help ensure your global expansion plans continue uninterrupted no matter what disruptions the future brings.

Ready to disruption-proof your operations? Talk to our solutions design experts.