The Cost To Your Business Of Duplication In Your Supply Chain

Businesses constantly look for ways to streamline operations, reduce waste and maximise profitability. Focus is often put on ways to optimise or streamline logistics, but an overlooked challenge that can derail these efforts is duplication within the supply chain. 

Companies that strive for a lean supply chain do so to maximise efficiency, and unintended duplication can be severely detrimental to that process. Understanding the root causes, effects and solutions for duplication is key to achieving a truly lean supply chain and obtaining significant competitive advantages.

There are ways to spot and avoid duplication in the supply chain to achieve a leaner model, which we examine below.

What Is A Lean Supply Chain?

A lean supply chain describes a production and distribution process that is optimised, efficient, and designed to eliminate waste. It’s about streamlining the flow of goods and materials from suppliers to customers, ensuring that every step adds value. 

The core philosophy of a lean supply chain is derived from lean manufacturing principles, focusing on:

• Waste reduction: eliminating any activity or resource that does not add value to the end product or service. This includes overproduction, waiting times, unnecessary transport, over-processing, excess inventory, motion, and defects.
  
• Efficiency: maximising output with minimal input, ensuring that resources are utilised effectively.
  
• Flow: creating a smooth, uninterrupted flow of materials and information throughout the supply chain.
  
• Pull system: production and delivery are driven by customer demand, rather than speculative forecasting.
  
• Continuous improvement (kaizen): a commitment to ongoing efforts to improve processes, products and services.

Streamlining processes through a lean supply chain model can significantly reduce supply chain risks by removing unnecessary complexities. A simpler supply chain is a lean supply chain, as it is easier to manage, oversee and adapt to changes. This also enables cost efficiencies and increased sustainability for your business. 

A lean supply chain management approach can provide companies with a significant competitive advantage by reducing costs, improving quality and increasing customer satisfaction.

Related Reading: Risk Handling Strategies: How To Mitigate And Manage Uncertainty

What Causes Duplication In The Supply Chain?

Duplication within a supply chain refers to the unintentional or unnecessary repetition of processes, tasks, or resources. While businesses strive for a lean supply chain, several factors may contribute to this inefficiency:

1. Mergers And Acquisitions

The most common cause of duplication within a supply chain is acquisition. When two companies merge, their respective supply chain processes inevitably lead to excess steps in the workflow. This can come from merging IT infrastructures, consolidating supplier contracts, integrating different warehousing systems, or combining logistics networks. Duplication is inevitable without a deliberate effort to rationalise and integrate these separate processes.

2. Lack Of Centralised Oversight

In large organisations, different departments or business units may independently establish their own supply chain relationships or processes. Without a centralised procurement function or clear oversight, this siloed approach can lead to multiple teams buying the same materials from different suppliers, using different logistics providers, or developing redundant internal processes.

3. Historical Practices And Legacy Systems

Over time, organisations may accumulate outdated or inefficient practices. Existing systems that are not regularly reviewed or updated can perpetuate duplicated efforts. For example, manual data entry at multiple points in the supply chain, when automation could consolidate these tasks, is a classic example of unnecessary duplication.

4. Rapid Expansion Or Decentralisation

Companies undergoing rapid growth or those adopting a highly decentralised structure may accidentally create duplication. As new branches, factories or regions are added, they might set up their own supply chain functions without sufficient coordination with the main entity, leading to fragmented and duplicated efforts.

5. Unaddressed Temporary Solutions

Companies may also have intentionally doubled up on facilities or suppliers in response to a specific, temporary issue or crisis. For example, if a primary supplier failed, a secondary supplier might be hastily brought on board. Deviating from standard practice and incorporating new steps on one occasion can lead to duplication further down the line when those additions are not necessarily needed any longer, yet remain in place.

6. Poor Communication And Information Flow

Miscommunication or a lack of transparent information sharing across different supply chain stages can lead to multiple parties performing the same task or holding redundant inventory because they are unaware of what others are doing. 

7. Fear Of Risk (Misapplied Redundancy)

While intentional redundancy is a sound risk mitigation strategy, sometimes the fear of risk can lead to unintentional duplication. For example, if there’s a perceived risk of stockout, different departments might independently order excess inventory, leading to duplicated stock holding at various points in the chain.

Identifying these underlying causes is the first step towards rectifying duplication and moving towards a lean supply chain model.

Related Reading: What Are The Causes Of Construction Supply Chain Disruptions?

The Effects Of Duplication In Your Supply Chain

Duplication in your supply chain ultimately overcomplicates the process, creating a cascade of adverse effects that extend far beyond initial appearances. While the immediate thought might be “double effort, double cost,” the financial and operational repercussions are often more widespread.

1. Increased Costs

• Higher operational expenses: paying for duplicated labour, transport, warehousing, and administrative tasks. This directly impacts the bottom line.
  
• Excess inventory costs: holding unnecessary duplicate stock ties up capital, requires additional storage space and increases risks of damage.
  
• Lost volume discounts: if buying goods or services within the supply chain relies on too many sources, companies won’t reap the benefits of loyalty to a service provider or potential bulk discounts. While diversifying suppliers can help reduce risk by having contingency plans, this should be a conscious decision and be integrated strategically.
  
• Technology overheads: maintaining multiple, potentially incompatible IT systems due to merged or siloed operations.

2. Reduced Efficiency And Productivity

• Slower problem identification: should a company encounter issues within its supply chain, finding its source with overly complex logistics makes identifying problems more difficult. Companies will waste valuable time trying to sort through the intricacies of multiple processes, slowing down efforts to rectify the problem and extending downtime.
• Increased lead times: Unnecessary steps add time to the overall process, delaying delivery to customers.
• Wasted resources: Capital, time, and physical assets are wasted on redundant activities that do not add value to the end product.

3. Lack Of Visibility And Control

Overly complicated steps and duplicated processes prevent transparency within the supply chain. This lack of visibility makes effective supply chain management challenging, as it becomes difficult to track goods, monitor performance and identify bottlenecks. 

4. Increased Risk Of Errors

More touchpoints and duplicated data entry increase the chances of human error, leading to inaccuracies, delays and potential quality issues.

5. Compliance Issues

Complex, duplicated supply chains can make it harder to consistently adhere to regulatory standards, potentially increasing the risk of non-compliance and associated penalties. Governing bodies are tightening standards and expectations of companies with supply chains, making a proactive approach to ensuring compliance essential to avoid the consequences of non-compliance.

6. Impact On Customer Happiness

Ultimately, these issues can trickle down to higher costs for customers, slower delivery and inconsistencies with quality, leading to reduced customer satisfaction and potentially lost business.

Related Reading: Ensuring Social Sustainability: Key Questions for Your Supply Chain

What’s The Difference Between Duplication And Redundancy?

It’s worth noting that duplication and redundancy in the supply chain are not the same, though the terms are often confusing. Understanding the difference here is important for effective lean supply chain management and risk mitigation.

Duplication

Unintentional, unnecessary and wasteful repetition of processes, tasks or resources that do not add value. It arises from inefficiencies, poor coordination or unmanaged growth. Duplication is always detrimental to the business.

Redundancy

The conscious, intentional inclusion of additional capacity, backup systems, or alternative suppliers for security or resilience reasons. This intentional practice makes good business sense if primary systems or suppliers begin failing, as it prevents the entire chain from grinding to a halt. Substituting failed steps with pre-planned backups can contribute to a smooth transition during a disruption.

How To Remove Duplication For A Leaner Supply Chain

Achieving a truly lean supply chain requires a dedicated and systematic effort to identify and eliminate duplication. Stringent supply chain management is key in combating the effects of duplication.

1. Conduct A Comprehensive Supply Chain Audit

Visually map every supply chain step, from raw material sourcing to final customer delivery. Include all internal departments and external partners.

Look for instances where the same task is performed multiple times, data is entered in multiple systems, or approvals are unnecessarily duplicated.

Review your supplier base. Are you purchasing the same items from multiple suppliers without a strategic reason? Are there opportunities to consolidate purchasing power?

2. Centralise Supply Chain Management

Establish a centralised supply chain strategy with clear goals and objectives. It’s also important to assign clear ownership for different aspects of the supply chain to avoid fragmented decision-making.

Invest in or integrate existing IT systems to create a single source of truth for supply chain data, improving visibility and reducing manual efforts. Through Veriforce CHAS, you can leverage the VeriforceONE platform to manage contractor compliance and risk across your global supply chain.

3. Streamline Processes And Standardise Workflows

Reevaluate and redesign workflows to eliminate unnecessary steps and maximise efficiency. Develop clear standard operating procedures for all critical supply chain activities to ensure consistency and prevent ad hoc, duplicated efforts.

Where possible, automate repetitive tasks such as order processing, inventory tracking and data entry. Reducing duplicate facilities and processes will help to increase transparency within a supply chain, and that increased visibility will allow for better supply chain management.

4. Optimise Supplier Relationships

Focus on building stronger, more collaborative relationships with a streamlined number of key suppliers. While diversifying suppliers can help reduce risk by having contingency plans, this should be a conscious decision to avoid accidental duplication and to reap the benefits of loyalty and potential bulk discounts.

It’s also a good idea to establish clear performance metrics and regularly review supplier performance against these benchmarks.

5. Use Data Analytics And Tracking

Use data to forecast demand more accurately, reducing the need for excess inventory. Implement technologies for real-time tracking of goods and materials, providing granular visibility and highlighting bottlenecks or duplicated movements.

6. Continuously Refine And Improve

Management should frequently audit the supply chain to check its efficiency and identify problem areas. This helps ensure that any eliminated duplication does not creep back in.

Encourage feedback from all stakeholders in the supply chain to identify opportunities for further refinement. Then, adapt your lean supply chain based on learning, conditions, technologies and risks.

While many of the risks associated with supply chains are not a direct result of duplication, they may be more difficult to identify and manage because of the complexities duplication can add to the process.

Related Reading: How To Know If Your Supply Chain Is Sustainable

Supply chain standards cover all areas of the logistics process, including modern slavery, environmental and social responsibility, and general health and safety. The Common Assessment Standard covers all these areas of risk management that pose a threat to supply chains. Contractors certified under the Common Assessment Standard will receive comprehensive training and tools to help identify and mitigate these risks. Veriforce CHAS clients get access to our pool of certified contractors to ensure any contractors they hire are up to speed on the latest supply chain legislation.

Sign up for a Veriforce CHAS Client account for access to our full range of supply chain risk management services, completely free. Alternatively, you gain access to industry-leading accreditation schemes and risk management resources when you become a Veriforce CHAS contractor.

Updated 10th December 2025