The Future of supply chain management is a simple dilemma
that every supply chain organization faces, many companies understand that
firms who can improve on their supply chains to meet the every growing demands
of the market, and uncertainties associated with the future market almost
certainly would remain successful.
I came across a blog written by Adrian Gonzalez, talking
about the a presentation titled "A vision of supply chain evolution"
by Tom Linton the Chief Procurement Office and Chief Supply Chain Officer
at Flextronics, he talks about future Supply Chain trends and how their impact.
#10: Cloud Computing:
Low cost and reliable cloud solutions for global supply chains are starting to
emerge; “apps” will transform supply chains.
#9: Business Process Convergence: Instead of automating inefficient processes, companies
will eliminate them — e.g., replace inter-company business documents such as
purchase orders with sense-and-response systems; companies will more seamlessly
integrate inter-company functions.
#8: Global Labor Costs Equalize: Labor arbitrage is in decline as labor costs in Mexico
match China’s, and India, Ukraine, and Indonesia become more cost competitive.
#7: Raw Material Scarcity is driving innovation in materials, with companies
replacing copper with aluminum, gold with copper, and steel with resin in
certain cases. Companies will also need to better manage conflict minerals and
rare earth metals.
#6: Skill Specialization: New supply chain skills will emerge, such as managing supply
chains in the cloud, and undergraduate and MBA programs will become more
specialized.
#5: Regional & Local Sourcing will expand and supply ecosystems will emerge as
economies grow; “Made in USA” and “locally-sourced” will drive sourcing.
#4: Emergence of Control Towers as supply chains become more virtual (few or no
factories). Supply chain winners will have a global footprint and be
transparent, reliable, and flexible.
#3: Predictable Unpredictability: Predictability becomes a competitive advantage; supply
chains break through barriers to become faster, more cost efficient, and safer.
#2: Corporate Social Responsibility Becomes Fundamental: It won’t be an option any more, policies expand
globally, emerging country laws catch up, and foreign corporations will follow
global norms.
#1: “Non-Zero” Supply Chains Win: In other words, supply chains focused on greater
collaboration between everyone in the ecosystem will win. This will result in
end-to-end supply chain solutions that will create new value for customers.
After reading this
excerpt I must say that I agree with the
trends listed above maybe not in the particular order stated. The evolution
of the Global market and the increase in
demands of consumers would initiate many of these trends. For example Tom talks
about Raw material scarcity this is a trend that for some industries can be
considered a reality. Due to the scarcity of raw materials companies are
starting to develop new and innovative materials, for instance the use of
engineered or faux wood to reduce dependency on real wood. This change in material has in turn affected the
supply chain as faux wood undergoes a different process.
Reference
futre trends,http://logisticsviewpoints.com/2013/07/10/what-are-your-top-10-supply-chain-trends/, October 9th,2013
future of supply chain, http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/operations/building_the_supply_chain_of_the_future, october 9th, 2013
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