Developing a Contingency Playbook for Supply Chain Risk

Since the global pandemic, organizations and their supply chain functions are now more than aware that unexpected situations can disrupt normal operations. In fact, a recent APQC poll of supply chain professionals found that a significant majority of them were concerned about the future of global supply chains. It is therefore vital that organizations—especially critical supply chains—create contingency plans, which describe the actions to take, such as reallocation of resources, when certain triggering events like crises or disruptions occur. 

In collaborative research between APQC and BCG, contingency playbooks were identified as one piece of building resilience. This article discusses contingency planning maturity levels, strategies for improving contingency planning, and the next steps to improving an organization's level of preparedness and resilience.