Supply Chain Monthly

2020 has been yet another year of change, innovation and growth for Supply Chain. The COVID pandemic has lasted longer than anyone could have imagined only six months ago, and as we begin to look ahead to 2021, it is undoubtedly shaping how organizations and professionals alike are planning for the year ahead. Savvy professionals reflect on learnings from the past to prepare for events in the future, and 2020 certainly provided opportunities for learning and improvement. Even for humor – remember toilet paper shortages? Though the shortages had nothing to do with demand planning or inventory management and everything to do with consumer behavior, the much-publicized toilet paper shortages managed to do a couple things. 1) Everyone in the world is now aware of supply chain as an industry, and our friends and families FINALLY have some insight into what we do for a living! And 2), the way supply chain professionals pivoted and responded to those very publicized shortages demonstrated the resilience of modern supply chains. As demand shifted, resulting from millions of people staying home who would otherwise be on the road, in office or at schools, our supply chains shifted as well. Talk about unforeseen forecasts!

 

So what are the lessons I take away from the last year? Well, the professionals in supply chain know they need to be ready for the unexpected, to prepare for scenarios that are unlikely, and to respond with agility and flexibility to ensure our customers are served, and yes, at the lowest possible landed cost.

 

Together as we look to 2021, look at your supply chains and the magnificent people who lead and manage it each and every day. It might make sense to sit down and highlight what you learned over the past year. Were there unique opportunities and ways of serving customers, born out of necessity this past year, that can now be employed and leveraged? I’ll bet the creativity of your supply chain professionals resulted in innovations as a response to what was bestowed upon them in 2020. Maybe, just maybe, you created a new way of doing business. So take a look back, take the good things from it, and look forward to a wonderful future. Remember, people are the most important aspect in any supply chain.

The results are in: 75% of supply chain and logistics professionals surveyed said their companies will be making changes to supply chain practices based on lessons learned from the pandemic. Explore this and so much more in “Creating Resilience Amid Disruption,” the 2020 Supply Chain Market Research commissioned by BluJay, conducted by Adelante SCM, in partnership with CSCMP. The study explores how supply chains will change to become more resilient and which capabilities become more important moving forward, along with revisiting trending questions on customer experience and innovation from the past two annual surveys. The online report launched today – view it here. 

 

A company’s value rests, in large part, with its suppliers. For example, more than 50% of the value creation in manufactured products comes from suppliers.¹ Your ability to collaborate effectively with the suppliers you have, while quickly onboarding new suppliers, is essential to driving competitive advantage in good times and being resilient when times are tough.

But there are challenges. The global pandemic is the ultimate example of what happens when companies in certain industries don’t have visibility beyond tier 1 suppliers and can’t quickly onboard new suppliers to address unpredictable but urgent business needs. This new reality is spurring many companies to reassess the balance between globalization and localization across their supply chain ecosystem.

 

There is always an air of uncertainty as a new year approaches. However, with so much change during 2020, one wonders what more could 2021 bring. 2020 will likely be regarded as the year in which the small parcel market was turned upside down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, driving a significant rise in e-commerce business, the likes of which we have never seen before.

Shifts from B2B to B2C shipping/residential last-mile deliveries occurred suddenly in March as the pandemic spread worldwide. FedEx and UPS reported nmore than 70% of total volumes were residential as compared to March when volumes were more evenly distributed between business and residential. As a result, FedEx and UPS had to adapt and readjust their networks quickly. But delays and capacity constraints occurred. To manage the increased residential demand, FedEx and UPS implemented temporary peak surcharges on Ground deliveries.

 

A special congratulations to John Tevis for his SCPro™ Level One Certification. John was the first participant in the SCPro™ In-Transition Program.

 

The SCPro™ Level One Certification offers a discounted price on the study materials and certification exam as well as a 6-month CSCMP membership to help those that have been negatively impacted professionally by the COVID-19 pandemic. To learn more and apply, click here.

“COVID-19 severely hurt my income, limiting what I could do to make myself a competitive candidate for a new job. Thanks to CSCMP accepting me into the In-transition program I was able to afford the SCPro™ certification, build my professional network and learn from industry experts at the EDGE Conference to help me be more marketable. Having earned the SCPro™ certification I'm excited to show potential employers that I have the supply chain knowledge they want, along with the project management skills they need. I'm ready to work!” - John Tevis, SCPro™ One, PMP, PMI-ACP 

"I joined CSCMP when I started the Master in Industrial Technology and Operations, at Illinois Institute of Technology in August 2019. I did it because I thought I would learn much about Supply Chain, which is the core focus of this master. My advice is to assist at as many events as possible, and this is actually the membership benefit I find most attractive."

"I joined CSCMP as a way of increasing my network and to gain additional industry knowledge. Leverage all that CSCMP has to offer from the website to the conferences and networking opportunities. As for me, educational and conference opportunities is what I have found to be of most value."

Spend Management Experts (SME) provides strategic guidance, cost modeling technology and deep market intelligence to help companies optimize their transportation, distribution and fulfillment spend, often helping our clients realize 20% or more in savings.

Cisco is a technology company that believes amazing things happen when we connect the unconnected. Since their founding 35 years ago, Cisco has maintained a keen focus on solving business challenges by developing powerful technology that connects, secures, and optimizes networks across the globe. Cisco’s hardware, software, and integrated solutions empower customers and society to seize tomorrow’s digital opportunities today. 

Technological advancements have proved to be both a blessing and a curse for individuals, businesses, and governments alike. With no precedent, the world is truly making up cyber rules as we go. And because of the difficulties involved in regulating cyberspace, it has become increasingly more dangerous to access the net without proper security measures in place. Hence the push for greater awareness in the role we all play in protecting connected devices. There has never been a greater need for device protection than now.

 

Information technology fuels our industries
Today, our economies are driven by technology and the Internet of Things (IoT). Every industry relies on some form of information technology (IT) infrastructure. Healthcare facilities, Maritime entities, gas and oil operations, financial institutions, state hydro facilities – you name it. Every sector you can imagine makes use of technology and invariably has numerous connected devices used by employees to get their work done. This dependence leaves these establishments vulnerable and open to attack by foreign threat vectors and other unscrupulous agents.

Learn how leading AI solutions help you drive supply chain resiliency, agility and predictability. Enable intelligent, end-to-end visibility and transparency. Minimize the complexity of supplier onboarding and collaboration. And deliver on more customer promises.

Register for Episode 1 Evolving Your Supply Chain to the New Normal - Here's How

Register for Episode 2 Ensuring Near Real-Time Confidence in Food Supply Chains with Blockchain and IoT

Register for Episode 3 A New Blockchain-Based Solution for a Faster Way to Qualify, Onboard and Manage Suppliers

Register for Episode 4 Modernize Your Fulfillment Operations with Forrester and Sally Beauty

According to the October 2020 Logistics Manager’s Index Report^®, the logistics industry continues to grow at a rapid pace. The LMI is at 71.6, up more than 20 points from six months ago when it reached an all-time low of 51.3 in April 2020. The score of 71.6 is the highest score the overall index has reached since June of 2018. October’s growth is being driven by logistics metrics across the board. Firms are reporting increasing levels of inventory, contracting capacity, and increasing levels of both utilization and price.

BY GEORGE A. ZSIDISIN, BARBARA GAUDENZI, AND ROBERTA PELLEGRINO

 

Global political trends are making foreign exchange rates more vulnerable to fluctuations. These sudden changes can have a significant impact on global supply chain costs. The following principles can help companies create a plan to mitigate that risk.