Actionable Steps to Map Your Critical Supply Chain Dependencies

• 21 Aug 2025
• Maura

• Article
• Design
• Analysis
• Policy and programme management
• 0

  Comment

In this article, Maura Santunione MBCI discusses the importance of mapping supply chain dependencies, the regulatory pressures driving change, and practical steps to identify risks. She shares actionable guidance to help professionals strengthen resilience, with a condensed checklist available exclusively for BCI Members.

Actionable Steps to Map Your Critical Supply Chain Dependencies

In today's dynamic global environment, supply chain vulnerabilities pose serious risks. Resilience begins with an accurate context understanding. Mapping your critical supply chain dependencies is a foundational step in identifying vulnerabilities and ensuring business posture because the ability to quickly identify, understand, and mitigate disruptions hinges on a deep understanding of organizational dependencies.

This article outlines actionable steps to systematically map these dependencies, providing practical tips to bolster your organizational resilience.

Why map critical supply chain dependencies?

Mapping critical supply chain dependencies is the cornerstone of proactive resilience, enabling organizations to:

• Identify single points of failure: Uncover where operations are overly reliant on a single supplier, location, or component.
• Assess vulnerabilities: Identify weaknesses in implemented supply chain processes and understand the potential impact of disruptions at various points in your supply chain.
• Prioritise mitigation efforts: Allocate resources effectively to address the most significant risks.
• Improve agility and adaptability: Develop predefined responses to prevent or minimise the impact of unforeseen events.
• Enhance business continuity: Ensure the continued delivery of critical products and services even in the event of operational issues within the supply chain.

The regulatory landscape: driving supply chain resilience

Beyond the inherent business benefits, a growing number of international regulations and national laws are mandating or strongly encouraging companies to enhance supply chain visibility, conduct due diligence, and build resilience. Non-compliance can lead to significant legal actions, reputation damages, and exclusion from public tenders or contracts. Understanding this evolving landscape can be crucial.

Here's a comprehensive table summarising the key regulations, directives, and guidelines categorised by jurisdiction/level and highlighting applicability, requirements, and implications related to supply chain mapping and risk management:

These evolving requirements underscore the legal and strategic imperative for robust supply chain dependency mapping.

Step-by-Step guide to mapping critical supply chain dependencies

Step 1: Define critical products, services, and business functions

Before diving into dependencies, an organization must clearly identify what's truly critical to its survival and success. This ensures focus on areas where they matter most.

Action: Execute an impact analysis (BIA) to define essential products/services/processes, assessing the severe consequences of disruption (e.g., revenue, fines, reputation, safety).

Practical Tips: Engage stakeholders (senior management, operations, finance, sales, IT). Quantify broader impacts, review regularly.

Step 2: Identify critical internal resources

Understanding the essential resources for delivering critical products/services and processes is fundamental.

Action: For each critical item from Step 1, identify key resources (e.g., personnel, technology/IT infrastructure, premises, data, equipment, specific financial capabilities) without which delivery would be impacted/impossible.

Practical Tips: Leverage existing documentation (e.g. Value stream maps, BIA outputs, registers). Engage department heads. Consider single points of failure (unique individuals, specific servers/applications, single-facilities). Categorise resource types.

Step 3: Identify direct suppliers for critical items

Once critical assets/resources are defined, identify the immediate external entities that enable their availability.

Action: For each critical item, list all direct suppliers of components/raw materials, services/technologies crucial for its availability.

Practical Tips: Utilise existing data (procurement systems, vendor lists, contracts), involve process owners. Be granular.

Step 4: Map beyond Tier 1: Identify N-Tier dependencies

True resilience and regulatory compliance require understanding of the layers beneath direct suppliers.

Action: For each critical Tier 1 supplier, identify their key suppliers till Tier X, going as deep as practically possible. Focus on inputs critical to your own critical products/services.

Practical Tips: Direct engagement (ask Tier 1 suppliers for sub-supplier info, may require contractual clauses). Leverage industry knowledge. Utilise data analytics tools. Prioritise deeper mapping for high-value, sole-sourced, or difficult-to-replace components. Include critical infrastructure (energy providers, water suppliers).

Step 5: Characterise dependency types and inherent risks

Understanding the nature of  dependencies helps in assessing its risk profile.

Action: For each identified dependency (at all tiers), characterize its nature and inherent risks.

Consider: Sole Source/Single Point of Failure, Geographic Concentration, Specialized Knowledge/Technology, Capacity Reliance, Logistical Bottlenecks, Digital/Data Dependencies.

Practical Tips: Use standard templates. Visual mapping is key to visualise relationships, identify choke points and identify ‘hidden’ dependencies.

Step 6: Analyse single points of failure and time to recover

Action: Systematically review supply chain map to identify areas of excessive reliance on a single supplier/location/component. Flag any area where defined resilience objectives are not achieved (SPF).

Practical Tips: Focus on "Time to Recover" (TTR): Prioritise analysis based on how long it would realistically take the recovery at the required level.

Step 7: Assess external risks

Action: Integrate relevant risk intelligence data onto your supply chain dependency map. Identify areas exposed to natural disaster zones, political instability, cyber and IT dependency risks (extend it to critical supplier resilience posture).

Practical Tips: Utilise data from third-party risk platforms, government advisories, and geopolitical intelligence services.

Step 8: Engage internally and externally for resilience

Mapping is just the start; effective resilience requires ongoing collaboration.

Action: Foster robust collaboration/alignment with internal stakeholders and key external partners/suppliers.

Practical Tips: Include resilience KPIs in supplier scorecards (e.g., business continuity plans, transparency in N-tier mapping, lead time flexibility) into supplier evaluation metrics.

Step 9: Update regularly

Supply chain dependencies are constantly evolving.

Action: Establish a consistent schedule for reviewing and updating your supply chain dependency maps. This accounts for evolving sourcing strategies, new product introductions, supplier changes, and shifts in the risk landscape.

Practical Tips: Align with regulatory cycles. Automate where possible. Integrate into existing processes.

Mapping critical supply chain dependencies is not a one-time project, it’s an ongoing strategic capability. It empowers leaders with the foresight to act, not just react, in times of disruption.

The sooner you start, the stronger your resilience posture will become.

Disclaimer:

In the interests of transparency, Ai was used in the following ways to support this article:

AI assisted research: AI was used to assist in research and data gathering

Download the checklist

Contributed by Maura Santunione MBCI, this exclusive BCI Member-only benefit offers a structured framework that helps practitioners gain a comprehensive understanding of critical suppliers, their interdependencies, and the potential impacts these relationships may have on operations.

By enabling members to proactively assess and manage supply chain risks, this checklist is a valuable tool for enhancing resilience and strengthening overall risk management strategies through informed decision-making. Access this resource by following the link below.

Critical Supply Chain Dependency Mapping Checklist

• Reference and Guides

More on

• Supply chain management
• Case studies, sample tools & practical guidance

About the author

Maura Santunione

Global Business Continuity Officer

I am Global Business Continuity & Resilience Officer at Royal Philips (Philips) within Group Operations – Integrated Supply Chain (ISC).
 My key accountabilities are the implementation, the compliance of the ISO22301 certified global business continuity management system (BCMS) in the sites assigned to me, related processes, and the compliance of the global Business Continuity Management (BCM) Program, which entails the Manufacturing Sites in the EMEA Reagion, Indonesia, the Amsterdam HQ. Furthermore I collaborate with the ISC Organization to implement our BCM Program in the IWD Locations.
 
I strongly believe in the continuous improvement, in the lean approach to achieve the excellence, based on these approaches year after year we improved the quality and the level of our BCM Program and System.

Our Center of Excellence Business Continuity & Resilience received the Fusion Team Pace Setter Award in 2019. Also, the team was awarded in 2021 by the Business Continuity Institute (BCI) with the Global & European Collaboration in Resilience Award.

Resilience means firstly prepare people, structuring organizations to live events and changes any time any place, ensuring safety  and business continuity.