Manufacturing and Supply Chain Expert Lisa Anderson, MBA, CSCP, CLTD, known as the Strongest Link in Your Supply Chain® and President of LMA Consulting Group Inc., regularly works with manufacturers to strengthen their supply chains. "One thing is for sure, supply chains are NOT islands," Ms. Anderson said. LMA Consulting Group works with manufacturers and distributors on strategy and end-to-end supply chain transformation to maximize the customer experience and enable profitable, scalable, dramatic business growth.

"Supply chains have been a focus since 2020. In fact, most people didn't even give supply chains a second thought until toilet paper became scarce," she continued.

While greater awareness has been placed on supply chains, it has been up to individual companies to optimize and strengthen their own supply chains. "Here's the thing about supply chains, they are independent and each one is unique. One piece of the chain is dependent on the areas preceding and succeeding them. If one link in the chain falters,  consequences have a ripple effect. That is why it is so important that every department be integrally involved and accountable for their responsibility within the supply chain," she said.

2022 was a different era for supply chains. Consumer demand shifted due to economic challenges, suppliers were able to make up for shortages in previous years which, in turn, caused excess inventory and COVID-based needs and products were no longer necessary. Yet, disruptions due to China's Zero COVID policies and the war in Ukraine continued. "2022 caused a different kind of chaos in supply chains. The lesson: be nimble, be flexible, listen to your customers and be ready to make changes," she concluded.

Ms. Anderson and her firm use the SIOP process to help manufacturers integrate departmental responsibilities so that every area has ownership within the supply chain. The SIOP process can provide data, consistency and order to the many moving parts in the supply chain. Ms. Anderson provides supply chain updates through Supply Chain Chats, a series of short videos that address current topics, issues and challenges related to supply chains.