GOODQUESTION Readers Weigh In
Is supply chain globalization in retreat? Why or why not?
Absolutely Not It’s an irreversible trend ; nations rely on each other for goods and services. What’s new is the trend of low-cost country sourcing; companies are looking for nearshore options, which means they are focused on securing suppliers closer to their consumption point. –Amit Gupta, Ph.D. Chief Product Officer, TADA The “retreat” is more an illusion than a reality. Globalization of the economy hasn’t stopped, so the supply chain can’t stop, i.e., just because the United States will make microchips, it doesn’t mean U.S. companies will stop buying from others, or that the United States will not sell to other countries. –Dimitre Kirilov President of Consumer Services, Montway Auto Transport Globalization is not going away. It must combine with regionalization to enable supply chain flexibility. By understanding the impact of internal and external factors, supply chain stakeholders can evaluate constraints and make the decisions that create the most value for the enterprise. –Patrick Van Hull Senior Director, Product Marketing, o9 Solutions irreversible trend ; trend of Absolutely
YES AND NO. We’ve seen the rush of knee-jerk reactions to onshore more. But the longer-term norm will be to balance offshoring and onshoring as companies seek to meet their cost objectives yet learn to keep their supply chains agile to meet service-level commitments. THE ANSWER IS NON-LINEAR. With supply chain disruptions, emerging technologies, and rising labor costs in developing countries, more firms are considering regionalizing their supply chain. Execution is the hard part. The more complex one’s supply chain ecosystem, the harder it is to onshore. –Dan Son Head of Global Banking, U.S. Bank
IT DEPENDS ON LOCATION. Companies that globalized their
NO. Today’s supply chain requires both a local and global source of supply. As a result, we have shifted from a low-cost to a results-driven approach, focused on driving better customer experience. –Matt Reddington CPSM, CPM, VP Operations Procure Analytics SUPPLY CHAINS ARE BECOMING GLOBALIZED AND LOCALIZED simultaneously. The perpetual search for cost savings resulted in global supply chains, and increasingly, automated manufacturing, higher transportation costs, and environmental concerns are now driving a shift toward localization.
operations 20 or 30 years ago when there were major cost benefits, are now dealing with rising labor and logistics costs in many locations. They’ll need to compare current globalized cost structures against the costs of onshoring to see if an advantage still exists.
–Lachelle Buchanan Vice President, Logility
–Tom McDonough Senior Director of Supply Chain Solutions, Anaplan
NO. But select businesses are seeing a tradeoff value in a simplified system with more control and visibility from end to end. Simplified systems offer ways to identify, assess, and manage risks such as inventory irregularity and unpredictable lead times. –Andrew Billings Vice President & Supply Chain Lead North Highland
NO. Shippers have had to be increasingly flexible in recent years, leading to a greater reliance on international partnerships. Because these partnerships can take years to form and shippers must make
–Matt Spooner Industry Thought Leader, Kinaxis
8 Inbound Logistics • November 2022
Powered by FlippingBook