SCLAA WA

Building Supply Chain Resilience During
the COVID-19 Pandemic:
Time to Fight New Wars with New Strategies

While we recognise that building supply chain resilience takes time, most business leaders are curious about how and why some companies adapt well to the devastating effects of supply chain disruptions whereas others do not. This discussion provides some insights into this conundrum.

Wednesday, 11 August 2021
5.30pm to 7.30pm
Edith Cowan University Joondalup, Room: JO 32.101 (Lecture Theatre)
Members: No charge  /  Non-Members: $30  /  Affiliates: $15

Free on-campus parking is available after 5pm

The complexity of the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated different approaches to supply chain resilience from those used to overcome other disruptions. Traditional strategies have proven inadequately flexible and adaptable to overcome low-frequency high impact (LFHI) disruptions such as the current pandemic.

In this presentation, Brian K Chikwava, from an academic standpoint and Alister Miligan from an operational perspective provide examples of such approaches and how they operate in practice.

Alister Milligan started his professional life as a chef. Over 30 years ago he moved into Transport and Logistic roles working for global companies such as TNT, Telstra, IKEA and ARB. He is currently State Operations Manager for ARB Corporation. For the last five years he has been working closely with sales and manufacturing and other major stakeholders to predict and satisfy, as efficiently as possible, the needs of a diverse customer base. He has also overseen and been instrumental in moving in 2020 West Australian warehouse operations from an outdated, undersized DC to a purpose-built new facility. While the physical logistic side of warehousing is very important, Alister is dedicated to improving and maintaining staff morale; crucial in uncertain times such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.  Alister believes that transparency of decision making is a key to success in maintaining staff motivation.

Brian K Chikwava has more than 20 years of experience in International Trade, Supply Chain Management, and Logistics. He is currently a PhD researcher at a top Australian university, where his research focuses on Resilience-Enhancing Strategies for the Australian Retail Sector. The project entails investigating effective mitigation strategies to eliminate or reduce the effects of supply chain disruptions, particularly considering the recent outbreak of COVID 19. Prior to his current research role, Brian served as a trusted advisor on supply chain operations in South Africa, Zimbabwe, the UK, and the Middle East. Professionally, he is a qualified Chartered MCIPS (UK); MCILTA (Australia) and an active Committee member of the SCLAA.