Revolutionizing Supply Chain Resilience

In recent years, the global landscape has been punctuated by various crises, challenging supply chains in unprecedented ways. From the COVID-induced shutdown of ports to the disruptions caused by the Ukraine war: the fragility of food supply chains is exposed. These crises, coupled with factors like energy price fluctuations and political tensions, have underscored the need for comprehensive risk management strategies. Traditional methods, focused on estimating risks, often falter in the face of rare, impactful events. This highlights the demand for innovative solutions that can better prepare supply chains for disruptions.

The Power of Reverse Stress Testing

In a world where even the most reliable global supply chains can falter, the Operations Research and Logistics group from Wageningen University (WUR) led the initiative for new research on supply chain risk analysis. Together with the Jheronimus Academy of Data Sciences (JADS) and a number of business partners they initiated the RESTRETCH project which will start in October and runs for three years. This project is built around a novel concept - reverse stress testing. While traditional risk assessment techniques estimate the likelihood and consequences of disruptions, reverse stress testing works in reverse. It identifies worst-case scenarios, then traces them back to the root events, offering valuable insights into critical failure points in the supply chain.

Advancing Reverse stress testing

The RESTRETCH project takes a bold step towards advancing the concept of reverse stress testing in supply chain management, an approach that has thus far been underexplored in existing literature. This novel perspective can significantly improve risk management in operations and supply chains, allowing stakeholders to gain insight into potential failure modes and mitigations. By weaving together these innovative techniques with data analytics, RESTRETCH aims to not only enrich the field of supply chain resilience but also bridge the gap between theoretical frameworks and real-world applications.

Project Goals and Expected Outcome

The RESTRETCH project strives for tangible impacts that transform supply chain resilience. It aims to achieve this through diverse means, such as fostering hands-on learning for students via several MSc thesis projects and internships. By disseminating findings through academic papers and articles in professional and newspaper outlets, the project bridges academia and the business community. It also enriches education by integrating results into our curricula at Wageningen University and JADS. In addition, RESTRETCH will engage in conferences, social media, and case study development to amplify its influence. A final white-paper publication will further disseminate insights to a broad audience. These goals collectively underline RESTRETCH's commitment to reshaping supply chain resilience practically and academically.

Connecting companies and developing use cases

In this project, we collaborate with several companies that organize major supply chains to develop and elaborate on different use cases based on the datasets provided by the companies. A Ph.D. candidate and an Engineering Doctorate Trainee at JADS will focus on creating an overarching model based on the findings derived from these use cases. This model will serve as a framework to evaluate the effects of disruptions by manipulating various 'levers' of the supply chain processes. This collaboration between JADS, companies, and other partners will not only shed light on critical bottlenecks within the logistics chain of these companies but will also contribute to enriching methodologies for supply chain resilience and management.