The year 2011, on the economic front was another year of uncertainty. A global economic recovery remains underway, although it is alarmingly long and slower than any other. The economy continues to remain tepid, and job market recovery in the U.S. will take years. Europe is grinding forward. We may see the end of Greece in the EU, and indeed, the notion of the euro continuing forward in 2012 is questionable. The irony is that we are still likely to see commodity prices rising on trend, the dollar weakening, but housing prices remaining relatively flat for a number of years. As one economist recently noted, “Fear uncertainty and doubt”are the reigning themes, which means that supply chain agility is more important than ever. Based on the impact of these threats, various studies are forecasting a loss of €280 billion for the year 2012.

Effectively managing supply chain continuity is critical not just because of the immediate costs but also long term consequences to stakeholder confidence and reputation that arise from supply disruptions. Procurement over the years has transformed itself to a more strategic player and this role requires it to manage risks arising out of events like supply disruption to ensure that the organization remains ahead of the pack in the competitive business environment.

In the webinar titled ‘Combating Supply Chain Risks: Key strategies for the year 2012’ conducted by Zycus Inc. on 25^th January, 2012, Robert Handfield (Bank of America University Distinguished Professor, NC State University Director, SCRC, NC State) discusses the foreseeable global economic woes for the year 2012 and provides insights into building an agile supply chain to counter the negative impact of supply chain disruptions. In the later part of the webinar, Shailendra Singh Rao (Manager, Product Marketing, Zycus Inc.) throws light on how technology is enabling organizations in building an agile supply chain.

The key learning’s from the webinar will be:

• A review of key disruptions that occurred in 2011, and the sources of supply chain risk.
• Introducing of complex adaptive systems thinking to supply chain risk
• Approaches to building a more agile supply chain able to plan for and mitigate supply chain risk in 2012
• Ensuring speed of response to unplanned disruptions when they occur through scenario planning
• Applying “lessons learned” methods to build more resilient supply chains
• Role of procurement technologies to mitigate risk related to supply chain

To access this webinar click here.