Designing, or re-designing, a supply chain in an “optimal” fashion will lower costs, simplify product flows and improve customer service…under normal conditions. But if the design ignores the potential for disruptions, the resulting supply chain may exhibit extreme fragility. Fragile supply chains are vulnerable to the loss of planned features (e.g., warehouses, transportation links, equipment), which can result from acts of nature, such as earthquakes, or from determined actions of an adversary, such as organized labor or a competitor. The latter risk is particularly worrisome when you realize--a military planner would assume this automatically--that the enemy may observe your actions to harden, defend or otherwise improve your supply chain's robustness and alter his tactics accordingly. Harrison and Carlyle will describe how you can harden your supply chain against potential disruptions, using examples from business and the military. You will be able to apply most of these techniques immediately.

Repeated: Tuesday, 4:00-4:50pm (Track 13)

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