Design for Supply Chain

Mitigating supply chain disruptions starts at the drawing board. Product resilience requires alignment between engineering and the supply chain—and the best opportunity to succeed at this begins at the very early stages of product design. Historically, the product design phase and supply chain management have existed in separate silos, with supply chain being introduced too late in the design phase. Today’s supply chains are global, interconnected, and extremely complex, so it is imperative to incorporate the supply chain into the design phase early and often. This will improve production planning, demand forecasting and increase supply chain resilience. The processes and tools necessary to manage disruption are much easier and less costly to address during the design phase rather than toward the end of a product’s lifecycle. Developing a proactive, end-to-end solution from the outset through the collaboration of design and engineering teams with an understanding of supply chain considerations will help manufacturers anticipate and manage risk. A design for supply chain (DfSC) strategy provides the flexibility to manage ongoing changes to designs. It gives designers the visibility to recognize common mistakes that lead to an unstable supply chain. It enables a level of agility that avoids costly disruptions by planning for alternate parts and timely submission and approval from regulatory bodies. It can even extend product lifespan by ensuring the continuity of replaceable components.