Supply Chain Mapping to Prepare for Future Pandemics

Abstract

The COVID-19 experience demonstrated how little some agribusinesses understood their supply chain. As companies were scrambling to determine how the shutdowns would impact their input suppliers, they surely perceived a need to prepare better for future pandemics. This article describes the practice of supply chain mapping, an activity used to better understand the upstream and downstream components of a company's supply chain. In addition to describing how mapping works, this paper illustrates how mapping can help identify supply chain vulnerabilities and reduce risk. Moreover, it discusses a number of other mapping benefits, including transparency in sustainability commitments and idea generation.