Supply chain News and trends

The climate has moved into the spotlight in businesses with a new report from Ericsson finding that 42% of decision-makers believe they will face disruptions to their enterprise in the near future due to natural disasters caused by climate change.

Other unforeseeable events are also expected to create challenges, such as the energy crisis, pandemic and global conflict, the study said. And while leaders recognize preparedness is critical, there is a need to move from reactive strategies toward long-term resiliency planning, shifting away from recovery-oriented resilience, the report indicated.

Not all events are equal—energy crises, pandemics and cyberattacks are regarded as the likeliest and most severe events. Four times as many decision-makers and employees agree that there will be more frequent and severe disruptive events in the future, the report said.

After climate change, respondents also cited cyberattacks and ransomware, in particular, as the most experienced events by enterprises, along with supply chain disruptions. Both the COVID-19 pandemic and the current Russia-Ukraine conflict are mentioned as key drivers for these supply chain challenges.

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Three-quarters of all supply chains have experienced difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading companies to consider reconfiguring their supply chains to promote greater resiliency. But what passes for talk of resiliency often means nothing more than supply chain redundancy — building out more physical infrastructure to handle the glut of goods.

Supply chain resiliency should reflect what always has been the goal of supply chain management — getting the right goods to the right places at the right times at the right costs — and, now more than ever, to be able to pivot successfully when confronted with challenges. Pandemic, war, inflation, labor shortages, and changing consumer buying patterns will be confronting supply chain managers for years to come.

Promoting supply chain resiliency involves dealing with and preparing for the supply chain risks that have always burdened supply chains, but which have been exacerbated in recent years. Ramping up supply chain planning processes and deploying technologies like artificial intelligence have the effect of increasing supply chain agility and dynamism. Those attributes, rather than redundancy, represent the true qualities of supply chain resiliency.

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Today’s supply chains were designed to optimize efficiency and speed while minimizing costs. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed crucial weaknesses in the paradigm. Resource shortages, product scarcity and end-to-end traceability gaps have caused system breakdowns and rampant distribution delays. Transformation is needed to create a more forgiving, sustainable supply chain that can better navigate future challenges.

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- The global economy has shown remarkable resilience throughout the pandemic, but history shows that real recoveries depend on adaptability and decisive decision-taking.
- As many parts of the world look forward to the most acute parts of the Covid-19 pandemic subsiding, we must unify around a sustainable, inclusive growth agenda.
- With a prosperous future for life on the planet at stake, decisions and financial commitments made now will have a lasting impact on the global economic direction.

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The CPG market has been growing in the last few years despite stiff competition from niche players, e-commerce occupying a larger market share, and the general shift in customer shopping behaviors.

COVID-19 has held the mirror to the vulnerabilities of our systems — from public health to global supply chains. There was an acute shortage of essentials across the globe. CPG and food and beverage (F&B) companies were struggling to move stock to places where they needed it. Even as enterprises are stabilizing themselves now, the dynamic nature of demand and the inevitable economic pressures that will follow, leave much to be desired. This is fundamentally due to the absolute lack of supply chain visibility. 

Today more than ever, enterprises need supply chains that not only recover from the present crisis but also steer stability in its aftermath. At EdgeVerve, we believe that two things define supply chain resilience: Their ability to be ‘connected and ‘cognitive.’ The TradeEdge suite of products is designed for enterprises to achieve this vision. We’ve enabled 25+ global enterprises — across CPG, apparel, beauty, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, and technology industries to begin this journey. When you’re ready, we can help you navigate your next.

Read Make Your Supply Chain Resilient for the Post-COVID Future now to help your CPG enterprise strengthen your supply chain for the turbulent present and volatile future. 

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Over the past 2 years, the risks and shortfalls in our global supply chains have been front and center in presidential briefing rooms, company boardrooms, and even family dining rooms. Supply chains are now recognized as central to business survival, success, and growth, rather than an opportunity to just reduce costs. 

As we head into to 2022, with rampant uncertainty and rapid change due to the Covid-19 variants and other market issues, what can we expect for the next 12 months?

It comes down to 4 main themes. Resiliency, Sustainability, Visibility and Technology.

Resiliency – As supply chain risks continue to flare up Sustainability is the challenge of the 2020s Visibility drives resiliency and sustainability  Technology provides the data and tools
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Long after the pandemic and a host of other disruptions delivered a fatal blow to lean supply chains, consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers are determined to gain the visibility they need for resiliency – with good reason. IDC analysts predicted that by the end of this year, half of all manufacturing supply chains will see the benefits of supply chain resiliency, resulting in a 10% reduction in disruption impact. Gartner researchers found the top two business drivers for digital supply chain strategy were to improve the customer experience (97%) and reduce costs (98%).

“There isn’t a CPG manufacturer who would disagree that having visibility across their supply chain is paramount to resilient business during these disruptive times,” said Stanko Simonski, CPG industry value advisor at SAP. “The question is how to close the gap between the vision and reality. Market leaders are gaining the visibility to first, understand what’s likely to happen and how they need to respond, and second, act on the decisions they’ve made.”

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German Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir has joined the European Commission in dubbing agriculture a security issue. Making agriculture more sustainable and resilient is an important step towards more independence from Russia, he said in an address to German lawmakers.

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Climate change has been getting a lot of attention recently, and for good reason. The latest science shows the risk is manifesting faster and it’s not just fires and floods causing problems. A changing climate will gradually and increasingly impact us all. Science also tells us now is the time to take action for future generations and to ensure business resilience.

This is why Treasury Wine Estates has set an ambitious target of net zero emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by 2030. With 70% of these emissions generated from electricity, we have our sights on achieving 100% renewable electricity across our entire operations by 2024. 

Targets are important for transparency and accountability. But how you achieve those goals is just as valuable.

As an industry with a significant agricultural footprint, there are three key areas wine producers can act on together to support the transition to a low-carbon future.

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Supply chains are critical to the global community, yet the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how many dangers are poised to disrupt it. 

The Insight Report The Future of Supply Chain: Why the End of the Pandemic Isn’t the End of Risk looks at the state of the global supply chain during the pandemic and proposes ways to help organizations mitigate risk and build resilience. You will learn about the following: 

How criminal elements and civil unrest are disrupting supply chains. 
How regulation is increasing the burden of compliance. 
How technology can help your organization protect your supply chain.

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ESG is quickly emerging as the common framework to evaluate the overall health of a business’s operating model and the company’s long-term resiliency. Key stakeholders are searching for, and are increasingly demanding, thoughtful, forward-looking policies and programs in all three of these areas. This ebook from Antea Group takes a deep dive into why and how developing and implementing an ESG program can be systematic, yet flexible enough to fit the scope and scale of your business operations.

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Dirk Holbach, chief supply-chain officer for Henkel’s Laundry & Home Care business unit, shares lessons from his seven-year journey in the role and what leaders should be prepared for in the future.
While current headlines about product shortages and empty shelves have highlighted the importance of the supply chain, that process began in early 2020. Companies that had labored to create a lean global supply chain needed to scramble to adjust to the effects of the pandemic. Beyond that, sustainability has also become a top priority on the CEO agenda, making the supply chain an integral part of managing an organization’s carbon footprint. Consider, finally, the imperative to incorporate digital technologies, and one could argue that managing the supply chain in the current landscape is one of the most complex roles in an organization.

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