Course overview
When a plant floods or a sole supplier files for administration, the value of a contingency plan is measured in hours. Either the alternate source is already qualified, the trigger thresholds are written, and the escalation contacts are current, or the team improvises while the clock runs and customers wait. This course treats the plan as the deliverable. It walks through how to build a response plan that names what happens, who acts, and when the switch is pulled, then how to document it so anyone can execute it, and how to test it so it does not fail on the day it is needed.
The methods are practical and specific. FMEA and bow-tie analysis are used to expose failure modes and trace them to causes and consequences. A risk register feeds the plan with prioritized threats, and recovery objectives are set in terms of RTO and RPO so the plan has measurable targets. Alternate sourcing and routing, safety-stock strategy, and clear escalation paths become documented playbook content. ISO 22301 concepts frame how continuity is structured, and tools such as a control tower, predictive analytics, and digital twin models appear as ways to trigger a plan earlier. Everything points back to one output: a maintained, testable playbook.
Why an untested plan is a false comfort
A plan that has never been tested is a document, not a capability. Contact lists go stale, the alternate supplier quietly loses the capacity it was chosen for, and the trigger nobody rehearsed gets debated while the disruption spreads. Testing exposes these gaps before an incident does, and it turns a static file into a routine that people trust. Good contingency planning also sets thresholds in advance, so a plan activates on a defined signal instead of on someone's judgment call under pressure. For teams extending this into cross-border and multi-region exposure, the Risk Assessment & Contingency Planning in Global Supply Chains course takes the same plan-first approach onto a wider map.
What you will be able to do afterwards
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Map failure modes with FMEA and bow-tie analysis.
- Convert a risk register into an owned action plan.
- Set activation triggers and thresholds for playbook launch.
- Define RTO and RPO targets for recovery.
- Document alternate sourcing, routing, and safety-stock options.
- Structure escalation paths and continuity roles via ISO 22301.
- Test, review, and maintain contingency plans regularly.
Course outline
Unit 1: Introduction to supply chain risk management
- Threat, vulnerability, and consequence definitions
- Contingency planning within risk and continuity
- Core plan components and recovery targets
- Planning versus operational control boundaries
Unit 2: Risk identification and assessment
- FMEA severity, occurrence, and detection scoring
- Bow-tie analysis of hazard causes and consequences
- Risk register building and prioritization
- Severe exposure identification for playbooks
Unit 3: Mitigation and contingency planning
- Activation triggers and thresholds
- Alternate sourcing and routing options
- Safety-stock buffer strategy
- Escalation path sequencing
Unit 4: Business continuity in supply chains
- Continuity roles and responsibilities under ISO 22301
- RTO and RPO recovery objectives
- Playbook alignment with organizational continuity
- Plan stand-down and resumption criteria
Unit 5: Supplier risk and relationship management
- Alternate supplier qualification and contracting
- Supplier continuity and notification agreements
- Supplier contact and capacity data maintenance
- Joint response coordination with critical suppliers
Unit 6: Digital tools for supply chain resilience
- Control tower visibility for early signals
- Predictive analytics for risk forecasting
- Digital twin models for response testing
- Tool alerts feeding activation triggers
Unit 7: Future trends in supply chain risk management
- Climate and geopolitical volatility trends
- Automation in playbook triggering and execution
- Ongoing plan maintenance cadence
- Continuity expectations from customers and regulators
How the course is delivered
Delivery is built on facilitated discussion, structured analysis, and worked examples, with guided walkthroughs of documented case studies and templates. Delegates work through documented scenarios, examine sample playbooks and register entries, and reason through trigger and escalation choices in group case discussion. They analyze how plans held up or failed in real disruptions; they do not perform live drills. The result is a clear method for producing a plan participants can write and maintain in their own organization.
Who should attend
The course is intended for supply chain and procurement managers, business continuity and risk planners, and operations managers responsible for contingency and response readiness who need to produce plans that work under pressure.
About EuroQuest International Training
EuroQuest International Training, founded in 2015, has delivered more than 1000 courses to over 15,000 participants and is headquartered in Bratislava, Slovakia, with training hubs including Dubai, London, Barcelona, Istanbul, Vienna, Paris, and Geneva. This course is educational; it references frameworks such as ISO 22301 and analytical methods such as FMEA as subject matter only, and does not certify any plan or organization.
Frequently asked questions
Will I leave with an actual contingency plan for my own supply chain?
You leave with the method and the structure to build one: how to run FMEA and bow-tie analysis, set triggers and RTO and RPO targets, and document alternate sourcing and escalation paths. Delegates draft plan components against worked examples, then complete the full plan against their own network back at work.
Do we run a live disruption drill during the course?
No. Delegates work through documented scenarios and review case studies to see how plans perform; they analyze rather than perform an exercise. The course is not a live drill and does not issue formal certification. ISO 22301 and FMEA are studied as subject matter, and certifying any plan or organization sits outside the course.
How does this differ from the strategy and operations courses?
This course is about building the plan itself: the triggers, playbooks, and tests. Choosing network-level response strategies is the focus of the strategy course, and managing live risk day to day through registers and controls is the focus of the operations course. The three are complementary.
Related courses
These EuroQuest courses pair naturally with contingency planning, from strategy through supplier-level fallback.
- Set the response strategy your plans execute with Supply Chain Risk Management Strategies.
- Widen the continuity view through Risk Management in Supply Chain & Business Continuity.
- Focus fallback design at the supplier level with Supplier Risk Analysis & Contingency Planning.
- Connect planning to daily control in Managing Risks in Supply Chain Operations.
Register for this course
To book a place or ask about scheduled dates and locations, reach out to EuroQuest International Training and register for this course.
All Course Dates & Locations
29 dates · 14 cities · Sep 2026 – Jul 2027