Managing risks in global supply chains

Supply chains are not without risk. Every business knows that. But too many businesses view those risks too simplistically. Of course, natural disasters threaten the smooth operation of supply chains. Wars, terrorist attacks, infrastructure collapses, harvest failures—such threats are tangible, and real. But they’re also relatively low-frequency, isolated events. The impact can be significant, but the probability of occurrence is low. Instead, we believe that businesses should be focused on a much more pervasive threat. A threat to land-based logistics operations in the form of cargo theft, organised crime, violence to employees, ‘false pickups’, and other intrusions on the smooth operation of businesses’ supply chains. The cost of such threats? Billions, in short. The reputational damage to business affected by them? Potentially enormous. But businesses are not without a means of fighting back. Read on to discover how. The whitepaper, written in an easy-to-read, accessible style, explores the dangers posed to land-based cargo movement through theft, ‘false pickups’, terrorism, hijackings and other threats. Highlighting real-life instances of actual incidents, it interviews security experts and other authorities on supply chain risk in order to identify ways to mitigate and neutralise such threats.

Securing the end-to-end supply chain

Businesses’ perspective on supply chain risk has matured. Yes, ‘macro level’ risks such as currency exposure, supplier failure, commodity price volatility, and political instability still matter. But so too do a whole series of threats to logistics operations and processes—threats such as sea piracy, cargo theft, violent activism, terrorism, and transhipment through ports where organised crime is endemic. Yet it’s not necessarily the direct costs of lost or damaged cargo resulting from these threats that keeps senior executives awake at night. The reputational costs, and the damage to businesses’ brands, can easily outweigh these many times over. The risks of physical harm being caused to staff during any incidents is another important motivation. But in seeking to mitigate these threats, the dilemma faced by businesses is an awkward one. The threats are real, and so are the costs. Knowing how to protect their supply chains, though, is another matter. The problem: lack of information about where exactly the threats lie in the end to end supply chain—a supply chain that can stretch from faraway factories to ‘final mile’ deliveries to the end-consumer. On land, at sea, and in ports. Talking to experts, and probing the lessons to be learned from real-life case studies, this Whitepaper explores the issues involved, and asks: how can businesses protect themselves?

Sourcing for Resilience

Sourcing used to be simple: buy from the cheapest source, single-sourcing where possible so as to bulk up volumes in order to create pricing leverage. Globalisation and giant container vessels made this even easier, connecting low-cost Asian factories to the markets of Europe and North America. No more, thanks to a decade of turbulence—think Fukushima, Brexit, Trump’s trade wars, and Icelandic volcanoes—finally topped-off by 2020’s Covid-19 pandemic. Now procurement organizations have a new mantra: source for resilience, rather than focusing solely on cost.

Additional inventory holding, re-shoring, near-shoring, and dual-sourcing—or even triple-sourcing—are now a key part of many businesses’ supply chain strategies, especially for critical items and materials. Freight flows are evaluated for flexibility and reliability, rather than purely cost. And longer-term, make-versus-buy decisions may be reversed, heralding a return to the era of vertical integration. Yet there are difficulties. Additional inventory consumes working capital. Is re-shoring even possible, now that many supply chains have been hollowed out, and former suppliers’ factories shuttered? And where exactly can businesses near-shore to—where else has the scale, skills, infrastructure and industrial breadth of (say) China? Talking to experts, this paper outlines the challenges ahead, and discusses how procurement and supply chain organizations can prepare.

To download this Whitepaper please visit: https://skilldynamics.com/roundtable-whitepaper/

Supply Chain Skills for the Future

“I never make predictions – especially about the future,” American writer HL Mencken once observed. It’s easy to see why: the future is a strange place, and they do things differently there. But those of us working in supply chain management have no choice: engaging with that future as it unfolds is mandatory. And despite the fact that supply chains have changed enormously over the past 25 years, some predict that the scale of change in the next 25 years will be even greater, as emerging technologies and new imperatives re-write the rules of the art of the possible.

What skills, then, best equip supply chain professionals for this brave new world? What skills help supply chain professionals best deliver on the promise of this future, as it impacts the world’s supply chains? How should supply chain professionals develop and upskill themselves so as to remain relevant – and employable – in the uncertain decades ahead? What guidance is offered by industry, employers, industry bodies, and academia? And how best to acquire those skills, while busily working at day jobs managing the supply chains of the present-day?

Talking to experts, this white paper finds out.

To download this Whitepaper please visit: https://skilldynamics.com/roundtable-whitepaper/

The Future of Retail

In little over a decade, the retail landscape has changed out of all recognition. The shift to online retailing, for instance. The rise of omnichannel. The demise of department stores. The shrinking High Street, and the move to edge-of-town retail parks. Growing consumer demand for same-day home deliveries. The impact on retail supply chains has been just as great, with both retailers and their suppliers under pressure to develop innovative new capabilities.

So where is retail heading? How exactly are retail supply chains changing? Which strategies should retailers—and their suppliers, and logistics partners—adopt, in response? And what skills—and technologies—are coming to the fore as retailers, suppliers, and logistics partners embrace this brave new world? Talking to experts, this white paper investigates.

To download this Whitepaper please visit: https://skilldynamics.com/roundtable-whitepaper/

Route to Zero Carbon

For supply chains, zero carbon is an exciting aspiration—one that holds out the promise of attractive CSR and sustainability benefits, as well as the prospect of useful cost savings. Better still, those benefits and cost savings accrue along the entire journey to zero carbon, as carbon emissions are continually driven downwards. But how realistic is zero carbon as an objective, and what challenges—both technical and organisational—must be overcome to achieve it? What initiatives are underway in road, rail, aviation, and maritime transportation modes? How do emerging technologies in warehouse infrastructure and ‘last mile’ transportation contribute to the goal? Where is progress being achieved most quickly? What can be done to accelerate progress elsewhere? With which skills do supply chain professionals need to equip themselves for the road to zero carbon? And how can they be acquired? This whitepaper, written as the world battles the worst pandemic for over a hundred years—serves as a salutary reminder that even when the threat from Covid-19 recedes, other pressing global challenges remain.

To download this Whitepaper please visit: https://skilldynamics.com/roundtable-whitepaper/

Digital Supply Chains

Faster than might have once seemed possible, information technology is transforming the management of supply chains. The result: supply chains that are leaner, faster, more responsive, and more resilient.

Thanks to data science and predictive analytics, for example, it’s easier to anticipate—and meet—demand. Thanks to automation and the Internet of Things, warehousing processes and their associated technologies are being transformed. And thanks to evolving e-commerce paradigms and technologies, consumers’ expectations are being revolutionised, with same-day deliveries now commonplace in urban locations. Transport, data flows, ‘final mile’ logistics: again, technology is redefining the art of the possible.

The challenge for supply chain organizations and their management teams: staying abreast of this rapidly-changing landscape. What exactly will be the implications of all these changes? What will they mean for supply chains’ resilience and agility? What new skills will supply chain organizations have to acquire—and what is the process of getting the digital journey underway? So, if you believe that end-to-end digital supply chains are part of your organization’s future, then I believe that this whitepaper is essential reading.

To download this Whitepaper please visit: https://skilldynamics.com/roundtable-whitepaper/