demand gives us an opportunity to reprioritise and better serve those smaller players ,” Lesser says .
“ Reshaping our supply chain has certainly made that a smoother transition than if we were only geared up to support the major players and didn ’ t have the ability to effectively engage with the smaller end of the market which is looking for smaller volumes .”
One key lesson from the mining downturn is that it is critical for the supply chain not only to operate efficiently but also be tightly linked to the business strategy .
“ In a market where our focus has shifted from security of supply during the boom to taking out cost in the downturn , a purely functional approach to the supply chain would have left the business more vulnerable to disruption ,” Lesser says .
“ Instead Orica is well-placed to ride the market back up or to continue to adjust to changes , with an agile supply chain that ’ s designed to handle whatever challenges the market throws at it .”