GOODQUESTION Readers Weigh In
Have Companies Made Progress Toward Supply Chain Resilience Since the Pandemic?
YES. Since the pandemic, supply chains have undergone a shift from being perceived primarily as a cost center to an opportunity for competitive advantage. Organizations have built resilience by shifting to a more modern, digital supply chain and leveraging technology like artificial intelligence (AI) to support planning, procurement, and logistics. –Nirav Patel CEO, Bristlecone NEARSHORING AND ALLY SHORING have improved supply chain resilience since the pandemic, with nearshoring reducing dependency on overseas suppliers and shortening lead times, while ally shoring fosters collaborative alliances for shared risk mitigation and agile responses to disruptions. –Mark McCullough CEO, Gebrüder Weiss North America NO. Companies built additional infrastructure during the pandemic for more capacity. Now they need capacity in different parts of the country for different things. They need to be more efficient and instead of building even more infrastructure, utilize that unused space to save on costs, transportation, and emissions. –Bill Thayer Founder & CEO, Fillogic CRITICAL SUPPLY CHAINS in food, health, defense, and technology are being studied and reinforced. Companies are expanding data analysis, deepening industry coordination, and enhancing resilience through disruption wargaming.
Passing Grade Overall, I would give it a C-. There have been some signs of risk mitigation, reshoring, and increasing inventory levels, but collectively we are still suffering a hangover from COVID that will take more years to resolve. It will take time to undo 40+ years of rampant offshoring. –Joe Adamski Senior Director, ProcureAbility
Numerous global private/public partnerships are also forming.
2020. Companies are now looking to multi-piece and multi-source, and we are seeing the confluence of planning and execution capabilities that allow for inventory sourcing decisions to match order reality. –Andy Dyer President, Transportation Management, AFS Logistics COMPANIES EMERGED with a focus on helping keep the supply chain flexible and adaptable to sudden shocks. By supplementing labor with robotics, advanced technologies, and new labor sourcing strategies, the supply chain is more resilient to unexpected challenges. –Jason Minghini Senior Vice President, Operations, Kenco THE INDUSTRY HAS MADE LEAPS in supply chain resilience, notably through diversifying logistics networks and accelerating the adoption of digital technologies for better inventory management and demand forecasting. –Dennis Moon COO, Roadie
–Alberto Toribio del Pilar Managing Director, ButcherJoseph & Co.
COMPANIES HAVE ADAPTED THEIR SUPPLY CHAINS to be more resilient. By incorporating risk into the optimization of stock levels, increasing frequencies of reviewing and updating system parameters, and simplifying product portfolios, businesses can continue to adapt to disruptions.
–Chip Barth Managing Director, Supply Chain, TBM Consulting Group, Inc.
COMPANIES DIVERSIFIED their supply base, increased in-region sourcing, and revised their inventory policies. They still need to address the shortage of talent in supply chain management, especially in tech innovation and advanced planning systems. –Shamini Martin VP Marketing, Trigent Software COMPANIES WERE SINGLE- PIECING and single-sourcing, which made for a fragile platform, prior to
6 Inbound Logistics • February 2024
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