With digital opportunities sweeping the supply chain landscape, readiness and line of sight will be paramount to success. Advanced technologies are shaking up the supply chain world. With quickly evolving capabilities across generative AI, data analytics, automation, machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain and more, the ‘smart’ supply chain is well on its way...

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Summary. As they strive to make their supply chains more resilient, global companies are grappling with two challenges: the difficulty in discerning potential sources and the extended time required to find, vet, and onboard new suppliers. Companies such as Walmart, Tyson Foods, Koch Industries, Maersk, Siemens, and Unilever are using AI tools to swiftly find...

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The logistics sector follows the lead in process automation, technological innovation, and environmental conservation in a constantly changing terrain. Logistics organizations need to quickly adjust to innovative technologies, cutting-edge procedures, and strategic approaches in order to survive and prosper in this age of intense competition. As logistics technology continues to advance, the sector should anticipate...

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Companies are making their supply chains more cost-efficient, resilient and sustainable in an increasingly uncertain world. Over the last couple of decades, many supply chains have become linear global chains, stretched to their limit in pursuit of efficient, mass production with low-cost countries, just-in-time inventory and limited inherent resilience. These models were geared towards growing...

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Our core scenario is that 2023 is the year that supply chains return to normal and companies turn to long-term supply chain strategies. We identify 10 data points that show supply chains mostly returning to normal, though there are notable areas of concern. We also flag what’s next for each measure.  Excerpt from the beginning...

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73% of Average Supply Chain IT Budget Will Be Allocated to Growth and Performance As organizations place greater emphasis on supply chain management, Chief Supply Chain Officers (CSCOs) intend to grasp their collective opportunity to invest in growth through new technology investments, according to Gartner, Inc. In a survey of 499 supply chain leaders from...

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Summary: Supply chains worldwide will continue to be caught between politics, economics and ecology in the future. Whether there will be more regionalization or nearshoring remains to be seen. The question will linger: Who will win and who will lose in this increasingly tense competition? Then logistics experts discuss the challenges and prospects for global...

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Summary: In a world that has never been more “on demand”, an agile supply chain can quickly adapt to market changes, anticipate spikes in demand, and meet customers’ delivery expectations. So, is your e-commerce business’s supply chain up to the task? Read on to discover the key things you should consider to run a truly...

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Supply chain issues and production bottlenecks brought to the fore by the pandemic presented opportunities to reshape freight operations Introduction In the years that led up to 2019, the twin rise of e-commerce and consumer expectations began placing unprecedented strain on global transportation networks and logistics providers.  Manufacturers and retailers responded by pushing their existing systems—a...

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Reinventing your approach to customers, sustainability, analytics and work design will propel it forward. What do high-performing supply chain organizations do differently? According to Gartner research, they are strategic advisors to their C-suite and are reinventing their approach to customer enablement, sustainability, real-time execution and human-centric work design. In fact, over the coming five years,...

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Global supply chain disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have increased the costs of trade between countries. Given the interconnectedness of the U.S. economy with the rest of the world, higher trade costs can have important impacts on U.S. labor markets. A model of the U.S. economy that incorporates variation in industry concentrations across regions...

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The last several years have made a mockery of many predictions. The economy didn’t tank. The mid-term election wasn’t a wipeout. There wasn’t a carrier “Armageddon.”  Those years have also made a mockery of many supply chain and logistics strategies and  services. A number of macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges, as well as significant learnings about...

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The political events of 2022 have once again demonstrated how important intact logistical supply chains are for the global economy and the population. This is also reflected in the future trends and challenges in logistics. Here, the focus remains primarily on aspects of digitization, but with an increased attention to making supply chains more resilient...

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When disruption is constant, an organization’s preparation for key supply chain trends can be a significant competitive advantage. Disruptions to supply chain operations are set to stay in 2023, whether they be existing or new geopolitical conflicts, inflationary pressures and the recessionary environment, climate change weather events, or other issues yet to emerge. They can...

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It’s not even the morning of New Year’s Day and already there’s talk in supply-chain circles of the 2023 hangover. “There’s a reliability hangover,” Bill Seward, the new president of supply-chain solutions at United Parcel Service, said in an interview. He was referring to lingering headaches from more than two years of shipping congestion, delivery disruptions and...

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Supply chains are the lifeblood of most, if not all, businesses today. Keeping all supply chain components running as smoothly as possible ensures that your business can provide on-time delivery of products and services, especially with changing consumer demands and supply chain disruptions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Aside from reading up on the...

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Several gauges show ship congestion continues to clear up even as shortages persist Few observers have had a better perch to watch the pandemic slowly clog — and now free up — one of the biggest arteries of global trade than Captain J. Kipling “Kip” Louttit. Two years ago this week, as fully loaded container ships...

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Summary.   Toyota has fared better than many of its competitors in riding out the supply chain disruptions of recent years. But focusing on how Toyota had stockpiled semiconductors and the problems of other manufacturers, some observers jumped to the conclusion that the era of the vaunted Toyota Production System was over. Not the case, say Toyota...

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A survey of supply chain leaders shows the need for visibility on sustainability performance and a holistic business case to drive results. In brief EY teams surveyed 525 executives about their sustainable supply chain practices. Many have long-term strategies but struggle to measure their progress. Business case initiatives for sustainability stretch beyond cost savings to...

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Shipping strains are on the mend, but a painful spell of weaker demand might be next. Rock guitarist Jack White, who extended his “Supply Chain Issues Tour” into October, might want to name his band’s next road trip after a different villain. That’s because supply strains, while still afflicting many consumers and businesses, are becoming more mundane...

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Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory and manufacturing systems are management strategies where replenishment orders of raw materials, assemblies, and finished goods are based on production schedules; which themselves are based on real customer orders that are due at specific dates (even times).  The objective is to increase efficiency and effectiveness by decreasing the waste associated with carrying...

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Supply chains are global, and the world is shrinking, meaning a shock to one part is a shock to the whole. And the shocks to supply just keep coming … Just as scientists and public health officials are daring to suggest the Covid pandemic might be entering its end-game, so China announces strict new lockdown measures,...

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Amid supply chain woes and inflation, five priorities for companies. Manufacturing companies are going through a fundamental rethink of their supply chain structures and long-term talent development plans as they look toward a post-COVID future. There is also a structural shift in priorities, attitudes and investments related to environmental consciousness. While ongoing inflation pains will...

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The war in Ukraine is exacerbating the rise in energy prices and disruptions to supply chains that have emerged during the pandemic. These two factors will weigh on the evolution of transport prices and logistics costs in general. Two years after the outbreak of the pandemic, which generated an awareness in Europe of issues concerning strategic...

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Procurement organizations are uniquely positioned to catalyze cross-functional actions that promote efficiency and resilience in rapidly evolving market conditions. Procurement leaders are facing one of the toughest market environments of their careers. A combination of macroeconomic factors—including COVID-19 shocks, trade policy shifts, workforce scarcity, energy transition, and even extreme weather events—have upended long-running trends that...

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With a long period of price increases possible, a proactive approach can help procurement professionals weather the storm. A growing economy. A tight labor market. Two of the biggest telltale signs of inflation have been evident in recent months, and concerns have been further fueled by two factors: tariffs and trade turbulence stemming from the Trump administration’s...

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The interconnectedness of global supply chains means that when one price goes up, others tend to follow. Increases in labour, energy and transport costs are contributing to inflation around the world, posing difficult policy challenges. Back when we could travel easily, a regular announcement at airports all over the world was: ‘The airline would like...

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India, Turkey and Mexico are among the new sourcing destinations emerging as companies seek to mitigate risks. Last year — amid port backups, container shortages and other supply chain nightmares — retailers and brands turned to the skies, sending demand for air cargo in 2021 up nearly 7% compared to 2019 by one estimate. Shipping shirts and...

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Supply chain challenges are real, but they’re not new, says global trade expert Dustin Burke. In the face of disruptions ranging from natural disasters to pandemics, how do we make sure supply chains can keep up? Burke offers a combination of solutions — from companies sharing risk to better forecasting disruptions — to help create...

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Concerns are rising that Shanghai’s lockdown is only the beginning of months-long challenges. After just over two years of a largely successful “zero-COVID” policy, China is facing its biggest test to date in the metropolis of Shanghai and the supply chain headaches that come with a massive lockdown. On Monday morning, the city reported a...

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