How will the supply chain change
with the crisis?
Audrey Abadie, Bpifrance and Benjamin Gauchenot, LACROIX Electronics share their thoughts with us

“This crisis, however difficult it may be, has made manufacturers aware of weaknesses in their supply chain and given them the opportunity to start or continue working on adapting it“.

“The crisis we are going through encourages us to limit the “bullwhip” effect, which means that any disruption (of demand or production) spreads exponentially as we move through the links in the chain. This situation, which is manageable when initial fluctuations are minor, becomes extremely complicated in a context of major disruptions such as that of 2020.

One solution to this flaw is the reduction of lead time, which is the amount of time between a customer’s initial order and delivery.

• Traditional lean manufacturing, a method which is based on eliminating all types of waste (excess production, waiting time, stock, etc.) within production processes, should be prioritised and
• part of the stock of a certain amount of our components should be relocated.
• We must also act on information flows by automating industrial planning (planning of tasks at each stage of the manufacturing process), as well as the trade relationship with our customers and suppliers in order to speed up the process and make it more reliable.”

“This includes local subcontracting and dual sourcing, partnerships with suppliers and customers, information exchange or CSR and strong management. The aim is to place the supply chain at the heart of the company’s strategy.”

“LACROIX Group has a card to play on the subject of balancing the supply chain by indicating market trends to its customers. The Group addresses a wide variety of markets (automotive, aeronautics, medical, industry, etc.), some of which are interconnected. We thus have a rich database that Artificial Intelligence could use to this end.”