Supply Chain Firefighting
Machine down. A supplier reports a delay in delivery at short notice. A plant has to close unexpectedly.
Such situations are no longer the exception, but are part of everyday life in modern supply chains. Nevertheless, many companies still react with improvised decisions based on manual planning – for example in Excel – under high time pressure and with limited transparency about the effects.
This so-called Firefighting ties up valuable resources, drives up costs and often leads to decisions that help in the short term. However, the actual problem remains in the long term and additional problems arise. The crucial question is therefore not whether disruptions occur, but rather how well prepared companies are. Because unforeseen events cannot be prevented – but their effects can be limited.
When planning becomes obsolete overnight
Production and logistics plans are based on clearly defined framework conditions: available capacities, functioning supplier relationships and predictable demand. As long as these conditions apply, even complex networks can be managed in a stable manner.
However, if these framework conditions are breached at short notice – for example due to a supplier failure or an unplanned reduction in capacity – even well-thought-out plans start to falter. This is exactly where operational firefighting begins.
Typical triggers include material or component failures, problems with suppliers or transportation service providers, plant closures at short notice or unexpected peaks in demand. In such situations, there is no time for structured analysis. Decisions have to be made quickly – often based on experience, Excel lists or gut feeling.
Under time pressure, companies resort to simple solutions: An alternative supplier is activated, express shipping is used to compensate for delays, production plans are changed – often without taking a holistic view of the effects on costs, service levels and adjacent processes.
However, what appears necessary in the short term is rarely optimal. The measures taken „put out the fire“, but often create new problems elsewhere. Rising costs, inefficient use of resources or declining service levels are typical side effects. Firefighting thus becomes a permanent condition – instead of a controlled exception.
The solution: rethinking firefighting
Preparation instead of improvisation
Effective firefighting does not mean reacting faster and faster or having more operational measures ready. The decisive difference lies in this, to be better prepared. Companies that deal with potential disruption scenarios at an early stage gain valuable time in the event of an emergency – and, above all, the certainty to act. Decisions do not have to be rethought under high pressure, but can be based on options that have already been thought through.
Preparation does not mean predicting every possible disruption in detail. Rather, it is about systematically considering typical deviations and understanding the effects of different alternative courses of action. If you know which levers are available in the event of a disruption and what consequences they have, you can make consistent and targeted decisions even in dynamic situations.
Two complementary approaches are central to this. On the one hand, the ability to re-optimize at short notice in the event of a disruption and to map changed framework conditions directly in the planning. The second is the use of pre-calculated scenarios and decision options that have already been analyzed and evaluated in advance. These scenarios serve as a guide and make it possible to quickly choose between reliable alternatives.
Both approaches can only be meaningfully implemented using data-based methods. Only when relevant data is brought together in a structured manner and systematically evaluated does the necessary transparency regarding conflicting objectives and effects emerge. This is precisely where mathematical optimization comes in: It creates the basis for understanding firefighting not as an improvised reaction, but as a controlled, prepared decision-making process.
Are you interested in our factsheet?
What are the benefits of mathematical optimization?
Mathematical optimization as the basis for resilient firefighting
Disruptions do not usually have an isolated effect. The failure of a supplier simultaneously influences transportation costs, production sequences, stock levels and service levels. These interactions can hardly be fully recorded manually – especially under time pressure.
Mathematical optimization makes it possible to systematically map precisely these relationships. Objectives, restrictions and available alternatives are brought together in a model and allow the Best possible decision under the given framework conditions to calculate.
In the context of firefighting, this means that instead of knee-jerk emergency measures, a structured decision-making process is created. Companies can specifically evaluate which production or procurement alternative minimizes overall costs, how delivery deadlines can be met despite failures and which compromises between costs, service and stability make sense. Reactive problem solving becomes a conscious, transparent decision.
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Firefighting with OPTANO
Decisions in minutes instead of days
This is precisely where OPTANO comes in, translating mathematical optimization into immediately usable decision support. Instead of manually adapting models or laboriously setting up new plans, existing optimization models can be specifically recalculated when a disruption occurs – at the touch of a button and based on the current data situation.
Changes such as the loss of a supplier, reduced capacities or changed priorities are taken into account directly in the model. OPTANO automatically calculates valid options for action and shows how these affect costs, delivery dates, capacity utilization and service levels.
Planners no longer have to put together scenarios themselves or estimate the effects. Instead, they receive concrete, evaluated decision options within a short space of time – transparent, comparable and comprehensible.
Firefighting as part of a resilient supply chain
Disruptions are no longer the exception, but the norm. Companies that continue to act exclusively reactively lose time, money and competitiveness. Those who understand firefighting as an integral part of planning, on the other hand, gain a decisive advantage.
Mathematical optimization offers the methodology to make well-founded decisions even under uncertainty. It makes conflicting objectives transparent, shows options for action and enables a calm and controlled response in an emergency. This transforms firefighting from an ongoing problem into a strategically controlled process.
Act now: How well prepared is your organization?
Which disruptions hit your supply chain particularly hard?
What decisions have to be made within the shortest possible time?
And which of these decisions could already be prepared today?
Regardless of whether you want to improve your operational response capability or make your overall planning more resilient – firefighting should not begin in the event of a crisis, but in preparation. Develop solutions with OPTANO that work even when the going gets tough.
Do you already know our factsheet on this topic?
In our factsheet “What are the benefits of mathematical optimization?” we ask 5 questions to help you assess whether mathematical optimization brings benefits to your organization.
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