/ RESILIENCE BY DESIGN:
THE SUPPLY CHAIN'S NEW IMPERATIVE
By Robert Cowan, Director, Global Supply Chain Solutions Development, Avnet
In a hyperconnected world where a single disruption sends shockwaves through global commerce, the old rules of supply chain management are obsolete. The new playbook? It’s not just about efficiency or cost-cutting anymore. It’s about resilience by design.
From geopolitical upheaval to natural disasters, the modern supply chain constantly changes. A new wave of supply chain professionals is transforming the industry. Armed with artificial intelligence (AI), data-driven insights and a strategic mindset, they’re building supply networks that thrive even during disruption.
Strategic patience
The instinct to react quickly in a crisis is human. But in the supply chain world, speed without strategy can be futile. Instead, I advocate a counterintuitive approach: strategic patience. Sometimes the smartest move is to slow down. The winners will be those who respond most intelligently, not most quickly.
This philosophy is rooted in strategic curiosity, or an almost forensic approach to understanding every layer of the supply network. It’s not enough to know your direct suppliers. You need to know their suppliers and their suppliers’ suppliers. You need to understand where your components are made, tested, packed and shipped from. And you need to know what happens and how to react when any one of those nodes goes dark.
Breaking the silo mentality
Traditional corporate structures—with their rigid departments and siloed decision-making—are spectacularly ill-suited for today’s supply chain challenges. Tariff changes, for example, ripple across finance, logistics, procurement and marketing. When each team optimizes for its own KPIs, for example, the response can be chaotic. Finance explores cost implications. Logistics pivots to alternative routes. Procurement scrambles for new suppliers.
The solution? Cross-functional collaboration. The best supply chain teams hold regular, interdisciplinary meetings where trade compliance, IT, sales and operations can hash out problems together. These aren’t just status updates. They’re real-time strategy sessions that surface insights no single department could uncover alone.
Resilience is the new sustainability
Sustainability used to mean going green. Today, it means much more.
Intelligent redundancy is a modern twist on the idea of backup systems. Instead of relying on a single supplier or region, resilient supply chains diversify. They build buffers, maintain relationships across geographies and plan for multiple futures.
Scenario planning is key. What if a major port shuts down? What if trade relations sour between two key countries? What if a natural disaster hits your top supplier? The companies that ask these questions before disaster strikes are the ones that thrive.
Assurance of supply: The other half of the equation
Resilience is about adaptability. Assurance of supply is about continuity. Together, they form a symbiotic strategy.
While resilience focuses on proactive risk management, assurance of supply emphasizes contingency planning by securing long-term agreements, building buffer stock and diversifying sources. Rather than a reaction to the most recent crisis, the focus is on resiliency. A good lesson learned from the pandemic is this: As a crisis becomes a memory, so too does the focus on resiliency. Don’t let that happen to you.
Embedding resilience and assurance into company and supply chain culture isn’t just smart, it’s essential. It’s the difference between scrambling for parts during a shortage and calmly pivoting to Plan B.
The country-of-origin conundrum
Take the deceptively simple concept of “country of origin.” For U.S. trade purposes, a component might be labeled “Made in Vietnam.” But under EU regulations, the same part could be considered “Chinese origin.” These distinctions aren’t academic. They’re the difference between seamless customs clearance and a logistical nightmare.
This is where strategic curiosity becomes a superpower. Ask the right questions, dig deeper and use digital tools to map and visualize supply networks clearly. AI-powered analytics can flag hidden vulnerabilities, but that’s true only if supply chain professionals are curious enough to probe the data.
In a hyperconnected world where a single disruption sends shockwaves through global commerce, the old rules of supply chain management are obsolete. The new playbook? It’s not just about efficiency or cost-cutting anymore. It’s about resilience by design.
From geopolitical upheaval to natural disasters, the modern supply chain constantly changes. A new wave of supply chain professionals is transforming the industry. Armed with artificial intelligence (AI), data-driven insights and a strategic mindset, they’re building supply networks that thrive even during disruption.
Strategic patience
The instinct to react quickly in a crisis is human. But in the supply chain world, speed without strategy can be futile. Instead, I advocate a counterintuitive approach: strategic patience. Sometimes the smartest move is to slow down. The winners will be those who respond most intelligently, not most quickly.
This philosophy is rooted in strategic curiosity, or an almost forensic approach to understanding every layer of the supply network. It’s not enough to know your direct suppliers. You need to know their suppliers and their suppliers’ suppliers. You need to understand where your components are made, tested, packed and shipped from. And you need to know what happens and how to react when any one of those nodes goes dark.
Breaking the silo mentality
Traditional corporate structures—with their rigid departments and siloed decision-making—are spectacularly ill-suited for today’s supply chain challenges. Tariff changes, for example, ripple across finance, logistics, procurement and marketing. When each team optimizes for its own KPIs, for example, the response can be chaotic. Finance explores cost implications. Logistics pivots to alternative routes. Procurement scrambles for new suppliers.
The solution? Cross-functional collaboration. The best supply chain teams hold regular, interdisciplinary meetings where trade compliance, IT, sales and operations can hash out problems together. These aren’t just status updates. They’re real-time strategy sessions that surface insights no single department could uncover alone.
Resilience is the new sustainability
Sustainability used to mean going green. Today, it means much more.
Intelligent redundancy is a modern twist on the idea of backup systems. Instead of relying on a single supplier or region, resilient supply chains diversify. They build buffers, maintain relationships across geographies and plan for multiple futures.
Scenario planning is key. What if a major port shuts down? What if trade relations sour between two key countries? What if a natural disaster hits your top supplier? The companies that ask these questions before disaster strikes are the ones that thrive.
Assurance of supply: The other half of the equation
Resilience is about adaptability. Assurance of supply is about continuity. Together, they form a symbiotic strategy.
While resilience focuses on proactive risk management, assurance of supply emphasizes contingency planning by securing long-term agreements, building buffer stock and diversifying sources. Rather than a reaction to the most recent crisis, the focus is on resiliency. A good lesson learned from the pandemic is this: As a crisis becomes a memory, so too does the focus on resiliency. Don’t let that happen to you.
Embedding resilience and assurance into company and supply chain culture isn’t just smart, it’s essential. It’s the difference between scrambling for parts during a shortage and calmly pivoting to Plan B.
The country-of-origin conundrum
Take the deceptively simple concept of “country of origin.” For U.S. trade purposes, a component might be labeled “Made in Vietnam.” But under EU regulations, the same part could be considered “Chinese origin.” These distinctions aren’t academic. They’re the difference between seamless customs clearance and a logistical nightmare.
This is where strategic curiosity becomes a superpower. Ask the right questions, dig deeper and use digital tools to map and visualize supply networks clearly. AI-powered analytics can flag hidden vulnerabilities, but that’s true only if supply chain professionals are curious enough to probe the data.
In a hyperconnected world where a single disruption sends shockwaves through global commerce, the old rules of supply chain management are obsolete. The new playbook? It’s not just about efficiency or cost-cutting anymore. It’s about resilience by design.
From geopolitical upheaval to natural disasters, the modern supply chain constantly changes. A new wave of supply chain professionals is transforming the industry. Armed with artificial intelligence (AI), data-driven insights and a strategic mindset, they’re building supply networks that thrive even during disruption.
Strategic patience
The instinct to react quickly in a crisis is human. But in the supply chain world, speed without strategy can be futile. Instead, I advocate a counterintuitive approach: strategic patience. Sometimes the smartest move is to slow down. The winners will be those who respond most intelligently, not most quickly.
This philosophy is rooted in strategic curiosity, or an almost forensic approach to understanding every layer of the supply network. It’s not enough to know your direct suppliers. You need to know their suppliers and their suppliers’ suppliers. You need to understand where your components are made, tested, packed and shipped from. And you need to know what happens and how to react when any one of those nodes goes dark.
Breaking the silo mentality
Traditional corporate structures—with their rigid departments and siloed decision-making—are spectacularly ill-suited for today’s supply chain challenges. Tariff changes, for example, ripple across finance, logistics, procurement and marketing. When each team optimizes for its own KPIs, for example, the response can be chaotic. Finance explores cost implications. Logistics pivots to alternative routes. Procurement scrambles for new suppliers.
The solution? Cross-functional collaboration. The best supply chain teams hold regular, interdisciplinary meetings where trade compliance, IT, sales and operations can hash out problems together. These aren’t just status updates. They’re real-time strategy sessions that surface insights no single department could uncover alone.
Resilience is the new sustainability
Sustainability used to mean going green. Today, it means much more.
Intelligent redundancy is a modern twist on the idea of backup systems. Instead of relying on a single supplier or region, resilient supply chains diversify. They build buffers, maintain relationships across geographies and plan for multiple futures.
Scenario planning is key. What if a major port shuts down? What if trade relations sour between two key countries? What if a natural disaster hits your top supplier? The companies that ask these questions before disaster strikes are the ones that thrive.
Assurance of supply: The other half of the equation
Resilience is about adaptability. Assurance of supply is about continuity. Together, they form a symbiotic strategy.
While resilience focuses on proactive risk management, assurance of supply emphasizes contingency planning by securing long-term agreements, building buffer stock and diversifying sources. Rather than a reaction to the most recent crisis, the focus is on resiliency. A good lesson learned from the pandemic is this: As a crisis becomes a memory, so too does the focus on resiliency. Don’t let that happen to you.
Embedding resilience and assurance into company and supply chain culture isn’t just smart, it’s essential. It’s the difference between scrambling for parts during a shortage and calmly pivoting to Plan B.
The country-of-origin conundrum
Take the deceptively simple concept of “country of origin.” For U.S. trade purposes, a component might be labeled “Made in Vietnam.” But under EU regulations, the same part could be considered “Chinese origin.” These distinctions aren’t academic. They’re the difference between seamless customs clearance and a logistical nightmare.
This is where strategic curiosity becomes a superpower. Ask the right questions, dig deeper and use digital tools to map and visualize supply networks clearly. AI-powered analytics can flag hidden vulnerabilities, but that’s true only if supply chain professionals are curious enough to probe the data.
AI: THE BRAIN BEHIND THE BRAWN
If strategic curiosity is the mindset, AI is the muscle.
Avnet, which shipped nearly 240 billion components in 2024, is betting big on AI to manage the complexity of modern supply chains. From predictive analytics to real-time visibility, AI is transforming how companies forecast demand, optimize inventory and respond to disruptions.
And the future? For certain tasks it’s autonomous. Think AI agents working directly with suppliers, or mobile robots navigating warehouses with real-time intelligence. The competitive advantage no longer resides with those using AI. Rather, those not using AI will be disadvantaged.
AI: THE BRAIN BEHIND THE BRAWN
If strategic curiosity is the mindset, AI is the muscle.
Avnet, which shipped nearly 240 billion components in 2024, is betting big on AI to manage the complexity of modern supply chains. From predictive analytics to real-time visibility, AI is transforming how companies forecast demand, optimize inventory and respond to disruptions.
And the future? For certain tasks it’s autonomous. Think AI agents working directly with suppliers, or mobile robots navigating warehouses with real-time intelligence. The competitive advantage no longer resides with those using AI. Rather, those not using AI will be disadvantaged.
PRACTICAL STEPS FOR IMPLEMENTATION
SO HOW DO YOU GO FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE? HERE ARE FIVE ACTIONABLE STEPS TO EMBED RESILIENCE BY DESIGN INTO YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN:
STEP 1
MAP YOUR SUPPLY NETWORK DEEPLY
Go beyond Tier 1 suppliers. Use digital mapping tools to visualize every node, from raw material sources to final distribution hubs. Identify single points of failure and build contingency plans around them.
STEP 2
INSTITUTIONALIZE CROSS-FUNCTIONAL COLLABORATION
Hold regular meetings for procurement, logistics, finance, compliance and IT teams to share insights and solve problems. Break down silos and encourage shared ownership of supply chain outcomes.
STEP 3
INVEST IN AI-DRIVEN RISK INTELLIGENCE
Deploy platforms that offer real-time visibility, predictive analytics and event monitoring. Use these tools to calculate custom risk scores and receive alerts tailored to your supply chain configuration and use that data to support scenario analysis.
STEP 4
DIVERSIFY AND REDUNDANTLY SOURCE CRITICAL COMPONENTS
Move away from single-sourcing. Build relationships with suppliers in multiple regions. Maintain strategic safety stock and long-term supply agreements to ensure continuity.
STEP 5
EMBED RESILIENCE INTO CULTURE AND KPIS
Make resilience a core value. Train teams to think in scenarios, reward long-term planning and include resilience metrics in performance evaluations.
RESILIENCE IN ACTION: INSIGHTS FROM THE FIELD
In a recent conversation with David Paulson, Avnet’s supply-chain-as-a-service leader, the urgency and complexity of modern supply chain resilience came into sharp focus. Paulson emphasized that the pandemic and semiconductor crisis were pivotal moments that permanently shifted how OEMs approach business continuity planning.
“Resiliency used to be a buzzword,” Paulson explained. “Now it’s a boardroom imperative. The pendulum swung out during the crisis, and while it’s come back slightly, the new baseline is permanently elevated.”
This shift has led to a dual focus: assurance of supply and resiliency. The former addresses how companies respond to unforecasted demand, while the latter focuses on how long a supply chain can continue operating and thrive during disruption. Together, they form the backbone of modern business continuity strategies.
Paulson also highlighted the role of digital transformation in enabling these strategies. Avnet's work with global OEMs showcases how harmonizing data across disparate systems can unlock real-time visibility and control. “We’re not just patching systems together,” he said. “We’re creating actionable insights that enable customers to make informed decisions and orchestrate their supply chains globally.”
One of the most exciting developments is the use of AI to cleanse and harmonize data, followed by AI-driven scenario planning. “Imagine an AI engine that not only detects an earthquake near a supplier but also tells you what to do next,” Paulson said. “That’s where we’re heading with tools that tie global events to specific purchase orders and offer graded risk responses.”
The new metrics of success
Efficiency still matters. But in the age of disruption, it’s no longer the only metric. Flexibility, transparency and long-term thinking are the new benchmarks.
The most successful supply chain professionals resist the urge to react impulsively. They ask better questions, build stronger networks, and use technology to monitor and anticipate disruptions.
In this era, resilience isn’t a buzzword. It’s a design principle. And those who embrace it will turn uncertainty into opportunity, complexity into competitive advantage, and disruption into a catalyst for innovation.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Cowan
Director, Global Supply Chain Solutions Development, Avnet
Robert Cowan is Director of Supply Chain Solutions Development for Avnet, where he and a team of supply chain architects design end-to-end solutions for digital and physical supply networks for organizations throughout the global electronic component ecosystem.
Robert has been with Avnet for 12 years. Prior to Avnet, he held positions as a supply chain consultant, project manager and supply chain manager. He has a master’s degree in Logistics, Supply Chain and Project Management from SKEMA Business School in France, is a Project Management Professional (PMP) with the Project Management Institute, and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, UK.