GOODQUESTION Readers Weigh In
How has the pandemic affected supply chain partnerships?
current challenges, while more importantly building capability for the “next normal” of tomorrow’s supply chain. —Mike Andaloro President & COO, BDP International SUPPLY CHAIN TURMOIL triggered by the pandemic has resulted in a massive acceleration in channel shift to e-commerce. Retailers collaborate across selling channels more than ever before, warehouses are becoming truly omnichannel, and advanced automation and robotics are enabling the required process capabilities. —John Seidl Consulting Partner, GreyOrange MARKET VOLATILITY caused firms with unreliable partners to evaluate alternative products, services, technologies, and strategies. Shippers gravitated toward firms that could meet service requirements, reshuffling partnerships as a result. —Oren Zaslansky Founder and CEO, Flock Freight DISRUPTION TESTED and proved or broke existing partnerships as shippers and their logistics providers adapted to either make it work, be innovative, be opportunistic, or drop it. Hard lessons have been learned and supply chains are being redesigned, rerouted, and de-risked as a result. Overall they will become more expensive as more optionality is built in. —Michael Zimmerman Partner, Americas Lead, Kearney
CUSTOMERS WERE FORCED to look at reshoring their supplies or taking a pareto approach—having some on shore and some off shore. Many have also started adopting a circular economy model to retain material and as many components as possible. —Colin Elkins Vice President, Manufacturing, IFS PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT is a key capability supply chain leaders will have to leverage to create sustainable value. While the pandemic changed some of the partners, it did not change the concept of partnerships. —Melvin Bosso Principal, Myrtle Consulting Group (now a part of Accenture) LACK OF COLLABORATION between retailers and CPGs led to avoidable out of stocks. Alignment is essential to ensure supply chain disruptions don’t result in forecasts that can’t be accurately executed. Using AI-based collaboration tools, both retailers and CPGs can increase agility and improve inventory management. —Patty McDonald Global Solution Marketing Director Symphony RetailAI THE URGENCY around supplier risk and preparations to withstand the next disruption is changing the dynamic of supply chains. Organizations must innovate beyond the traditional, linear supply chain model and lean into a dynamic, collaborative supply network. —Tony Harris Global Vice President, Business Network Solutions, SAP
THE HEIGHTENED STAKES of keeping up with high demand and scarce labor urgently meant vendors had to condense their integration timelines. Supply chain partnerships that were in testing mode were pushed into full production. We went from practicing the 200-meter relay to running it in the Olympics. —Lior Elazary Co-founder and CEO, inVia Robotics THE DEGREE OF VULNERABILITY within the supply chain revealed by the pandemic forced us to revisit business models and redefine supply chain partnerships to ensure alliances evolve along with the organizations. Companies are looking at operational processes, enhanced digitization, and new customer demands. —Andy Frommenwiler VP Air Freight USA Dachser USA Air & Sea Logistics THE PANDEMIC redefined and reinvigorated partnerships. Collaborative supply chain partnerships allow firms to navigate
8 Inbound Logistics • June 2021
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