Supply chain risk management and contingency planning in the chemical sector
A large petrochemical company has been operating a Just-In-Time production and blending plant in the Antwerp region. As a result of its continuous growth, this facility was approaching its maximum capacity, showing signs of congestion, bottlenecks, with deteriorating service levels on outbound flows and deliveries. They deliver to all main OEM’s in the automotive sector.
To stay a trusted supplier, they had to be compliant with several stringent certifications. One of which is the IATF certification. An important prerequisite to stay certified is contingency planning.
The company had to be able to present an alternative, ready-to-deploy distribution plan to ensure continuity of deliveries in case of a hard shutdown of production.
The Ahlers Data Analytics supported the customer to draw up, analyze, and simulate the impact of contingency scenarios.
The purpose of the contingency plan was to bridge the time gap between the currently available direct logistic remedies and the delivery from an auxiliary plant in China.
The solution enabled our customer:
- To secure the JIT-delivery of their OEM customers in case of a forced shutdown of the Belgian plant
- To analyze the impact on costs, operations, and customer service level
The benefits of a simulated contingency plan are:
- To have a realistic overview of the “TO-BE” situation without the uncertain cost of implementation
- Have a step-by-step execution road map
- Access to an adaptable model to monitor the changes in the supply network