b'Look-AheadBOOSTING SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCET he pandemic exposed the in- of engineering technology and in- at the Texas A&M University Col-ability of national supply chainsdustrial distribution at Texas A&Mlege of Engineering. The Radar to quickly shift production and re- University, Radar will demonstrateprogram can uncover which charac-configure their logistics networkstwo-way visibility into and acrossteristics and attributes companies to meet customer demand surgescritical supply chains to determineshould incorporate to increase their during major disruptive events. Thewhere the most impactful suppli- likelihood of successfully adopting desperate scramble for items, suchers, vulnerabilities and interventionsrobotics and automation in collabo-as ventilators, face masks and evencould exist followingblack swanrative (human and robot) manufac-toilet paper, wont be forgottendisruptionslike COVID-19. turing environments.soon, but the recent baby formulaBecause more than 98% of sup- An imperfect understanding of shortage points to a larger under- pliers in the United States are smallexistingconstraints,incentives, lying problem with a supply chain model that prioritizes being efficient and cost-effective without accom- The utilization of flexible and collaborative modating the additional needs for resilience and robustness. But whatrobotics technologies to automate factory if it was possible to proactively plan and reactively respond and recoveroperations in the Radar program has the as quickly as possible following apotential for significant return on investments supply chain disruption by further employing automation and robot- across multiple product lines regardless ics at key stages of the supply chain? of the size of the company.In response to recommendations outlined in Report of the Defense Critical Supply Chain Task Force, SecureAmerica Institute and Ad- and medium-size manufacturers, ac- opportunities and risks that can im-vanced Robotics for Manufactur- cording to the U.S. Census Bureauspact supply chains prevents many ing Institute are partnering with in- 2018 County Business Patterns sur- small and medium-size manufactur-dustry leaders like General Electricvey, establishing an understand- ers from fully embracing their tech-Co. to make targeted supply chaining of what makes these compa- nical innovation capabilities and af-improvements. The Robotics andnies more agile and cost-compet- fects end-to-end supply chain re-Automation Decision frameworkitive is key to realizing the vision ofsilience. For instance, early in the for Agility and Resilience, or Radar,this program. pandemic large automotive man-which is funded by the U.S. Depart- The utilization of flexible andufacturers were able to pivot their ment of Commerces National Insti- collaborative robotics technologiesproduction lines to produce venti-tute of Standards and Technology,to automate factory operations inlators. However, many smaller man-plans to demonstrate the power ofthe Radar program has the poten- ufacturers lack the scale, know-how strategically adopting robotic andtial for significant return on invest- and support to completely explore automation solutions across the sup- ments across multiple product linestheir ability to be similarly agile. ply chain. Led by Lefteris Iakovou,regardless of the size of the com- Radar aims to adapt the agile op-SecureAmerica Institutes manufac- pany, said Prabhakar Pagilla,pro- erational models of larger organiza-turing supply chain director and thefessor in the J. Mike Walker 66 de- tions so smaller ones are also able Harvey Hubbell professor of indus- partment of mechanical engineer- to pivot as needed.CTEtrial distribution in the departmenting and associate dean for researchJoya Mannan40JANUARY 2023LookAhead.indd 40 12/15/22 2:52 PM'