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Lizzie Projella
03 April 2026
Supply chain disruptions are no longer rare events. Port closures, geopolitical shifts, labor shortages, and technology outages have become recurring operational realities, and the companies absorbing those shocks best are the ones that planned for them before they happened.
Building resilience today looks different than it did five years ago. The old model, optimized around lowest cost and single-source efficiency, leaves organizations exposed when any one node in the chain fails. The shift happening now is toward adaptability: redundant suppliers, real-time data visibility, documented protocols, and systems that can reroute before a disruption becomes a crisis.
To understand what that preparation looks like in practice, we asked business and operations leaders across logistics, e-commerce, software, and services one question: what is one specific action you are taking to prepare your supply chain for future disruptions?
Related article: Hiring Supply Chain Leaders for Nearshoring: The 5 Critical Skills You Need in 2026
Their responses span sourcing strategy, systems integration, infrastructure redundancy, and scenario planning. Here is what they shared:
Remap Your Sourcing Corridors Before the Next Port Closes
Build Your Labor and Inventory Buffers Into the Service Model Itself
Connect Your Systems First. Resilience Follows From a Unified Data View
Replace Traditional Schedules with Real-Time Data and Predictive Reordering
Mirror Your Infrastructure and Document Every Role Before Someone Leaves
Move Operations Online and Test Your Backups Before You Need Them
Run a Dual-Supplier Strategy with a Dashboard That Catches Delays Early
Simulate the Disruption Before It Happens with Digital Twin Modeling
Stop Relying on Single Providers. Line Up Regional Backups Now
Run Fire Drills on Your Backups. Do Not Just Trust the Plan on Paper
Based on recent trends, the one way I am preparing HMA Inc. for future disruptions is by aggressively implementing Multi-Tier Sourcing and Regional Diversification. We have moved away from the 'single-hub' model that dominated the last decade.
The specific action I have taken is the re-mapping of our primary Asia-to-North America corridors to include secondary 'China Plus One' hubs in Vietnam and India. By establishing bonded warehouse agreements and pre-cleared customs protocols in these alternative regions, we ensure that a single port closure or geopolitical shift in one country does not freeze our clients' entire supply chain.
We are also investing in Predictive Inventory Modeling, shifting from reactive shipping to holding strategic 'buffer stock' closer to the end consumer. In 2026, resilience is no longer about having the cheapest route; it is about having the most adaptable one.
Areg Dadashyan, CEO at HMA Inc. | International Freight Forwarding & Logistics Expert., HMA Inc
As Operations Director for 1,358 units at Middletown Self Storage, I manage the logistical flow of both physical moving supplies and the labor required to keep our facilities at peak occupancy. My role involves navigating recent trends in labor volatility and retail shortages that can stall a customer's moving process.
To address disruptions in the moving labor market, we took the specific action of partnering with Surv! to provide guaranteed free local move-ins for new rentals. This integrates a reliable labor provider directly into our service chain, ensuring that a shortage of independent movers doesn't prevent our clients from accessing their units.
We also countered supply chain instability by transforming our offices into high-volume retail hubs for packing materials like boxes, tape, and bubble wrap. By maintaining deeper on-site inventories of these specific products, we shield our customers from regional retail stockouts that frequently occur during peak moving seasons on Aquidneck Island.
Hannah Snow, Director of Operations, Middletown Self Storage
In a word: integration. We're focusing on building a more integrated, real-time data foundation across our supply chain. Most disruptions aren't entirely unpredictable, but they're hard to manage when data is fragmented.
We've prioritized tighter integration between our TMS, ERP, and partner systems to create a unified view of orders, shipments, and exceptions. This allows us to quickly identify risks like carrier performance issues or delays and act before service is impacted.
This integration-first approach helps our clients shift from reactive to proactive and lays the groundwork for predictive analytics and AI-driven decision-making.
Nick Fryer, Vice President Marketing, Sheer Logistics
Another tangible step I'm taking to get our supply chain ready for upcoming disruptions is leveraging real-time data and predictive analytics. We've implemented a data platform that allows us to access real-time data from our suppliers, inventory systems, and demand. This has enabled us to identify disruptions before they occur and consequently adjust our ordering and safety stock decisions based on predictions rather than traditional schedules. This has allowed us to minimize stockouts when demand changes suddenly and react quickly when we sense a problem with one of our suppliers. By leveraging constantly changing data and acting on it in real time, we're becoming more resilient without overstocking.
Dario Ferrai, Co-Founder, Openclaw VPS
Mirroring the infrastructure in terms of technology helps avoid the complete loss of connectivity in the event of regional outages.
Right now I have exact copies of all work environments. Server failure creates an instant switch. Most companies ignore their digital supply connection. Redundancy requires a 20% increase in monthly overhead to maintain service consistency as the main metric for long term growth despite external shocks.
By standardizing internal protocols, any member of the team can fill in a position in the event of sudden movements in the team.
At the same time each task is performed according to documented instructions which we update every 90 days. In short this ensures no bottlenecks when staff are away. Knowledge on paper means that personnel movements cease to be a threat. Protocols enable any new contractor to learn the workflow in less than 48 hours.
Before the next crisis strikes, audit your current team for single points of failure. In the end map out every task out today and determine exactly who steps in when your primary lead vanishes without any prior notice.
Travis Hoechlin, CEO, RizeUp Media
We moved our onboarding and deal tracking online so we wouldn't get stuck whenever third party tools slowed down. When cloud outages hit last year, our backup systems kept everything moving. If you run a similar operation, you really should spend time stress testing your setup. It sounds like a pain, but it saves you the moment something goes wrong.
Andrew Gazdecki, CEO, Acquire.com
We run an e-commerce operation alongside our software business, so supply chain reliability directly impacts our bottom line. The specific action we took was building a dual-supplier strategy for every product category we sell. After getting burned in 2023 when our primary supplier in Shenzhen went dark for three weeks during a factory consolidation, we now maintain at least two vetted suppliers for every key product line, one in China and one in either Vietnam or India.
The real game-changer was building a simple internal dashboard that monitors supplier lead times in real time. Our dev team built it in about two weeks using our existing tech stack. It pulls shipping data from our logistics partners and flags any supplier whose average delivery time drifts more than 20% above their baseline. Last quarter, that system caught a slowdown from one of our packaging suppliers a full ten days before it would have caused stockouts. We switched orders to our backup supplier and avoided what would have been about $15,000 in lost sales. The lesson I keep coming back to is that supply chain resilience is not about predicting the next disruption, it is about having the systems and relationships in place so you can react within 24 hours when something goes sideways.
Shehar Yar, CEO, Software House
One approach we often discuss with our customers is preparing the supply chain through scenario planning and digital twin modeling. Disruptions today happen faster than traditional planning cycles can respond. This includes supplier shutdowns, port delays, and sudden changes in demand.
A question I often ask our customers is simple. "What would happen to your network if a key supplier or transportation route became unavailable tomorrow?"
This conversation usually leads organisations to build a digital model of their supply chain so they can simulate disruptions before they occur. These models combine data from systems such as ERP, transportation, and inventory platforms to test different scenarios and identify the best response in advance.
The most practical action many companies are now taking is running continuous scenario testing. Teams simulate supplier risks, transportation bottlenecks, and demand shocks so they can see the impact early. When disruption happens, they already know the best alternatives such as shifting production, adjusting inventory levels, or rerouting logistics.
Raphael Yue, Chief Executive Officer, Sophus Technology
We stopped relying on single providers and started lining up regional backups. Now if one place has staffing trouble or shipping delays, someone else picks up the slack. We are six months in and service interruptions have basically stopped. It also made it easier to handle a sudden demand spike in a few cities. You should figure out where you're exposed and get backup partners ready.
Enrico Westrup, CEO, WMD Alltagshelden
At AthenaHQ, we switched to a multi-cloud setup because single provider backups were too slow for our pace. The difference was clear immediately. Those small outages that used to pop up during third-party issues vanished. Now our platform stays up even when the big providers go down. You need to run actual fire drills on your backups instead of just trusting the plan on paper.
Andrew Yan, Co-Founder and CEO, AthenaHQ
Supply chain resilience in 2026 is not a single strategy. It is a set of overlapping decisions across sourcing, systems, people, and infrastructure. The leaders contributing here are approaching it from different angles, but the common thread is the same: the companies absorbing disruptions best are the ones that built redundancy into their operations before the disruption arrived.
Key actions these leaders are taking right now:
Replacing single-source models with multi-tier sourcing and China Plus One regional hubs in Vietnam and India
Building bonded warehouse agreements and pre-cleared customs protocols in alternative regions
Shifting from reactive shipping to strategic buffer stock held closer to end consumers
Integrating TMS, ERP, and partner systems to create a real-time unified view of the supply chain
Using predictive analytics platforms to detect supplier slowdowns before they cause stockouts
Mirroring infrastructure and documenting protocols so any team member can step into any role within 48 hours
Running dual-supplier strategies with internal dashboards that flag lead time drift in real time
Using digital twin modeling to simulate supplier shutdowns, port delays, and demand shocks before they occur
Replacing single regional providers with backup partners to eliminate single-point-of-failure exposure
Adopting multi-cloud setups and stress-testing backups through live fire drills
For teams that need to move faster, working with supply chain placement agencies that specialize in operational roles can accelerate the process of building the right team before the next disruption hits.
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