COMMENT
ANNA HANNA, FROM SPANWALL (ARCHITECTURAL WALL CLADDING
MANUFACTURER) SHARES HER SUPPLY CHAIN AND OPERATIONS LEARNINGS FROM COVID-19… Foresight and action: what we learned fromCovid
O perating a business through a global health pandemic has been no mean feat. The last year has brought so many trials in our personal and business lives, but also, it has undeniably brought a steep learning curve that had made many businesses, including Spanwall, more fit for the future. Our business capability depends on stockholding and good working relationships with our suppliers. When we went into lockdown in March 2020, we had four to six months of raw materials stock in reserve. We were very lucky that Keith Toner, our Managing Director, had the foresight to believe that there would be a supply shortage within eight months. And we acted on his intuition. Spanwall embarked on a process of developing a new depth of relationship with our key suppliers. In essence, these companies moved from being ‘just’ suppliers to becoming supply chain partners. We opened as soon as it was possible under the Government guidelines and many of our key supply partners opened their businesses for us. Our team started communicating with our supply chain partners about forthcoming contracts much earlier than we would have previously. Those suppliers would
‘be in the know’ about the contracts we have planned down the line and they would let us know as soon as the materials are available. As a result, we haven’t had to increase our prices at the same rate as many of our competitors.
Of course, aluminium is a commodity, so there were
Anna Hanna, Financial Controller, Spanwall.
additional factors at play besides Covid. For example, political issues in Chile and Papua New Guinea, which supply chemicals used in aluminium production, also had an impact. However, the unique relationships we developed with our supply chain partners minimised the impacts. Our core aluminium material price has doubled since March 2020, but our prices have not risen proportionately and our sales have not been impacted. This is entirely because of our new approach to the supply chain. We had taken the same relationship-building approach to our paint and anodising suppliers and, with all our key partners, we have adapted our approach in practical ways that count, for example, paying early if a supplier needs our support, to ensure the continuity of the business relationship. The key learnings within our supply chain are forward-planning and
openness. We’ve taken those learnings and applied them elsewhere in the business because we’ve learned that to do so is beneficial for both partners. We apply the same approach to human resources and staffing needs, sales forecasting and, increasingly, into the digitisation of the manufacturing process. The Covid pandemic has been very hard within the personal lives of many and within business life. But we have learned lessons and they are lessons that Spanwall will be taking forward into the future. Spanwall manufactures
architecturally striking façade panels: www.spanwall.com
“The key learningswithin our supply chain are forward-planning andopenness.”
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