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In case of a sudden demand surge, fast response may not be sufficient.
There are instances from time to time when demand for a particular product in a specific territory surges manifold, due to certain extraneous factors like a disease outbreak. We see customer service and logistics teams focus on speed of response to meet the additional demand in time.
However, the response often involves diverting stock meant for other locations to this specific territory. While it does help in capturing the additional demand, it also exposes the supply chain to potential stock-outs in future as the inventory buffers get depleted. The heroic effort to meet the additional demand is celebrated for others to emulate, while the consequent sales loss in other parts is underplayed.
Fast response by logistics is necessary but not sufficient. What we need is a fast and full response. Apart from the logistics team expediting delivery, we also need the production team to quickly step-up production of the concerned item so that the inventory buffers depleted at other locations are filled up. We also need procurement to expedite delivery of requisite input materials so that future production schedule is not at risk.