In the wake of the pandemic and the ongoing threat of natural disasters, a business continuity plan is a must for manufacturing companies. Your plan should outline the immediate steps to be taken in the event of a crisis and be flexible enough to allow your company to adapt to unanticipated scenarios. Let’s take a closer look at four best practices to follow when developing a plan.

1. Form a team

The first step is to put together an interdisciplinary team. It should include staff from your production, procurement, sales, customer service, HR, IT and finance departments.

This group will be responsible for developing the business continuity plan, testing it and keeping it updated. The team will also train employees on business continuity procedures and implement the plan in the event of a crisis.

2. Evaluate risks

Conduct a business impact analysis to understand how various crises would affect your manufacturing operations. Start by identifying and prioritizing critical manufacturing and business processes. Then assess the impact on your business should one or more of those processes be disrupted.

Next, examine various threat scenarios and prioritize them based on their probability and potential impact. For example, a brief power outage would probably be a high-probability, low-impact scenario, while a hurricane or wildfire may be a low-probability, high-impact scenario.

3. Develop your plan

Now you’re ready to prepare a written plan that outlines various threat scenarios and includes contingency plans in the event critical resources become unavailable. Be sure the plan lists the steps you’d take if key personnel or facilities become unavailable, utility outages occur, equipment is damaged or malfunctions, IT systems become inaccessible, or your supply chain is disrupted.

For example, the pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of global supply chains to public health emergencies and other disruptions. Your business continuity plan might identify alternative suppliers in more reliable locations that can meet your needs should your usual supply chain channels become unavailable. For this strategy to be effective, you’ll need to develop relationships with alternative suppliers before a crisis occurs.

Also create contingency plans for a manufacturing facility shutdown. In this scenario, you’ll need to use an alternate facility or contract another manufacturer to pick up the slack. And identify off-site backups that can be accessed and restored rapidly if critical IT systems become unavailable.

What if another health crisis requires a shift to remote work? Your plan should ensure that your IT infrastructure and other systems can accommodate remote workers with minimal interruption.

4. Regularly test and update your plan

Don’t wait for a real-life crisis to find out whether your business continuity plan works. Test it regularly to address any vulnerabilities or in response to organizational changes or industry developments. Testing methods can range from a “tabletop” exercise — in which your team discusses how it would respond to various threat scenarios — to full-fledged simulations.

If testing procedures reveal gaps or flaws in your current plan, make the necessary updates and re-test. Continuity planning is a continuous process.

No time like the present

Now is the time to prepare for the unexpected. Having a plan for minimizing disruptions and resuming operations quickly can make the difference between the survival and failure of your manufacturing company. If you already have a plan in place, review it to identify any unaddressed vulnerabilities and determine what you need to add to your plan to sustain operations in a crisis.

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