Build a response plan for a supply chain disruption
A first-72-hours action plan when a supplier, port, or route fails: impact, allocation, recovery options, and communications.
The prompt
Help me build a response plan for a supply chain disruption happening now.
What happened: [e.g. "supplier fire", "port closure", "carrier bankruptcy", "customs hold"]
What is affected: [PARTS, SKUS, LANES, SITES]
What we know and don't know: [FACTS SO FAR, EXPECTED DURATION IF STATED]
Inventory on hand and in transit: [UNITS AND WEEKS OF COVER PER ITEM]
Open demand at risk: [CUSTOMER ORDERS, PRODUCTION SCHEDULE]
Possible alternatives: [OTHER SUPPLIERS, ROUTES, MODES, SUBSTITUTE PARTS]
Response team: [NAMES OR ROLES]
Build the plan in phases:
1. First 24 hours: confirm facts, secure in-transit stock, freeze or reallocate inventory, stand up a daily call.
2. 24-72 hours: quantify the gap by week, run allocation rules (which customers or products get priority and why), activate alternatives, book capacity before competitors do.
3. Recovery: rebuild buffers, review contracts (force majeure notices, our obligations to customers), lessons learned.
For allocation, suggest criteria (contractual commitments, margin, strategic customers, safety-critical items) and ask me to confirm before applying them.
Use only facts I provide; mark unknowns [CONFIRM]. For force majeure or contract questions, note that legal should review.
Return:
1. A gap table: Item | Cover (weeks) | Demand at risk | Gap start date | Recovery option.
2. The phased action plan with owners and deadlines.
3. Short drafts: internal leadership update, customer notice, and a note to sales on what they can promise.
4. The 5 metrics to track daily until recovery.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Projects & Operations prompts
What to fill in
- PARTS, SKUS, LANES, SITES
- FACTS SO FAR, EXPECTED DURATION IF STATED
- UNITS AND WEEKS OF COVER PER ITEM
- CUSTOMER ORDERS, PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
- OTHER SUPPLIERS, ROUTES, MODES, SUBSTITUTE PARTS
- NAMES OR ROLES
- CONFIRM
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
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