ACCOUNTING
Assessing/Improving
Supply Chains: Lessons
from the COVID‐19 Crisis
COMMERCE asked experts at New Jersey’s top CPA firms for their take on supply chains and how to
improve them. The key is to keep all supply chain participants operational.
Compiled by Miles Z. Epstein
Editor, COMMERCE
According to Seton Hall University Stillman
School of Business Professor
Penina Orenstein, “Supply chain management
is concerned with the efficient integration
of suppliers, factories, warehouses and
stores so that merchandise is produced and
distributed in the right quantities, to the right
locations and at the right time.”
From a COVID‐19 perspective, “we are initially
looking at re-tooling the supply chain,” she
explains. “As time goes on and there is a shutdown
in the labor force, it is likely that the supply
chain structure can fail. The key is to keep all
supply chain participants operational.”
COMMERCE asked experts at New Jersey’s
top accounting firms for their take on supply
chains and how to improve them.
CohnReznick LLP
By Duraid Jwayyed,
Director, CohnReznick Advisory
The COVID‐19 crisis has disrupted
supply chains and customer
demand in industries across the
globe. Along with future concerns
around weather, commodity pricing and
“As time goes on and there is
a shutdown in the labor force,
it is likely that the supply
chain structure can fail.”
escalating geopolitical tensions, businesses
face unprecedented challenges in managing a
reliable and consistent supply chain. The pandemic
created a shift toward digital buying and
delivery across industries and supply chains,
and businesses must be able to pivot to meet
new consumer expectations. These expectations
include delivery promptness, transparency and
accuracy. Connecting a physical inventory fulfillment
footprint with a virtual planning environment
will be critical in successfully meeting
post-COVID‐19 consumer expectations. Businesses
will need to quickly fulfill ecommerce
orders and optimize inventory to ensure that
products are available locally and at a national
level. Businesses would be advised to employ
Integrated Business Planning (IBP) as a strategy
to align people, process, and data in building
a centralized, collaborative planning environment.
IBP can help businesses enhance the customer
experience, reduce operating expenses
and efficiently adjust their strategies for this
dynamic environment.
Deloitte & Touche LLP
By Paul Krieger,
Managing Partner for
New Jersey
Many organizations are looking
to build up what can be called
“supply-chain resilience.” This is
critical because the issue for many companies is
not just to get their supply chains operational
as an immediate reaction to the crisis, but to
become more agile and protected as they move
from what we call the “Respond” phase to the
“Recover” phase on the COVID journey. Achieving
resilience can start with a mapping exercise
to pinpoint potential trouble spots along the
chain and assessing each vendor’s capacity level.
Then the company can create scenario plans to
understand and mitigate margin impact, identify
back-up suppliers and potentially repurpose
existing inventory in light of changes in customer
demand. Underlying this is technology.
Achieving resilience is a continuous process
that requires data, insights and responsiveness.
Companies should consider if digital tools may
be needed to modernize their supply chains to
keep up with a changing world.
Goldstein Lieberman &
Company, LLC
By Phillip E. Goldstein,
CPA, Managing Partner
Getty Images/iStockphoto
When it comes to supply chains,
diversity is the new normal.
We have recently witnessed the
downside of counting on a single supply chain
after COVID‐19. When personal protective gear
for healthcare workers fighting the pandemic
was needed, the main source was China. When
the demand became too great and the reliability
of shipping due to the coronavirus was quickly
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