Supply Chain Business Continuity Management
Supply Chain BCM
The risk of supply chain disruptions was found to be far greater than assumed when COVID-19 broke out in 2019, followed by global chip and shipping container shortages. Supply chain threats, including regional conflicts and geopolitical and disaster risks, have not been resolved. If anything, they have increased.
Epson formulates a business continuity plans (BCPs) to ensure that we fulfill our responsibility to supply products and services and to minimize losses in the event of a disaster, accident, outbreak of emerging infectious disease, or other disruption in the supply chain. Epson also implements supply chain business continuity management (BCM) to properly maintain and improve the BCPs.
Supply Chain BCM Initiatives
Today’s sophisticated and complex supply chains are susceptible to risks and crises. To establish a robust and sustainable supply chain, we are decentralizing functions, securing alternatives, and increasing resilience. We have divided the supply chain functions into five categories (suppliers, procurement, production, sales, and logistics) and are addressing the priorities that have been set for each.
| Functions | Initiatives |
|---|---|
| Suppliers | Acting on suppliers to enhance their ability to respond to emergencies and maintain supply continuity by establishing business continuity management (BCM) and a business continuity plan (BCP) |
| Procurement |
Implementing risk avoidance measures, including multi-sourcing, securing alternative sources for procured goods, executing long-term procurement contracts, strengthening partnerships, and maintaining inventory of parts and raw materials * Applies to direct materials and parts and to indirect materials |
| Production | Strengthening the distributed production organization, increasing the resilience of facilities, strengthening measures to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, and securing product inventories |
| Sales | Maintaining operations sites, human resources, and an IT backup system |
| Logistics | Securing transportation modes and routes by maintaining and strengthening relationships with transportation companies, improving the accuracy of shipping and delivery plan management, and securing multiple logistics modes and methods (carriers, transportation routes, and warehousing functions) |