“ We can take that back to our business units and work with them to create mitigation plans to dual source , adjust inventory levels , and / or regionally source some of the material or components .”
As part of the work to de-risk high-priority products , BD uses discovery technology that employs AI and machine learning ML to map subtier supply chains for critical products and leveraged that visibility to uncover hidden risks in its suppliers ’ extended supply chains .
“ During COVID-19 , 80 % of BD ’ s supply chain disruptions didn ’ t come from our direct suppliers ,” Nelson adds . “ They came from our suppliers ’ suppliers or even three or four levels down the chain . Unless you have mapped your entire supply chain and employ
90 % Roughly 90 % of patients coming into a clinical setting in the United States are going to use a BD product very sophisticated technology , it is very hard to know how a disruption at a third or fourth-tier supplier will impact your product .”
An example of the payoff of this work was a recent paper strike in Finland . Because BD mapped the supply chain , the procurement team knew that pulp from Finland was used in medical grade labels the company uses and that there were very few alternate suppliers . BD received early warning signals from the risk intelligence partner along with the visibility to understand the issue early on , work with its partners to find alternate sources and secure inventory of labels well in advance of other companies or industries that would be vying for the same label stock .
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