Supply chain risk intelligence: advance warning before disruption reaches the shelf
Major UK grocery retailer
Challenge
Supply disruptions were managed reactively. By the time risk became visible in stock data, the window for proactive sourcing intervention had typically closed. The causal drivers of disruption were knowable in advance but were not monitored in a connected way.
Approach
A causal supply risk model was built across the supplier network, monitoring leading indicators of disruption across financial, operational, logistical and external dimensions. Natural language interfaces let category managers interrogate the specific drivers behind any risk signal.
Outcome
Advance warning of supply disruption was generated days to weeks ahead of stock impact. Category managers initiated proactive sourcing conversations earlier, reducing the frequency and severity of on-shelf availability issues, and structural vulnerabilities in high-value categories were surfaced.