The Gift of Digitalization
In 2022, we continued to encourage our clients building a strong supply chain is much more than focusing on the final destination – it’s about the journey of how you get there. From pharmaceutical to manufacturing to retail industries, our clients increased their end-to-end supply chain strengths and broke down the silos that had previously prevented full integration. By knowing how key supply chain elements such as data, supplier management, inventory and collaboration are all interconnected, gaps were addressed, workflows were redesigned and a more holistic digitalization approach became a reality.
The Gift of Advanced Planning Tools
Companies of all sizes greatly benefitted from investing more in advanced planning tools like Kinaxis RapidResponse™ improving their ability to see and then act on mitigating potential pitfalls and roadblocks. By challenging the traditional, and often disconnected tools for managing the supply chain end-to end and taking advantage of key scenarios and prepared responses, we partnered at every stage of the supply chain journey to successfully move organizations out of firefighting mode. Through our partnership with Kinaxis RapidResponse™, we gave our client base the ability to start small and think big.
The Gift of Transparency
Building transparency into every aspect of end-to-end supply chains, from consumption patterns to manufacturing trends, allowed one of our clients in the medical supplies business to work smarter and more logically. Even as the supply chain industry recovered from a global pandemic, the aftereffects of war and prepared for the potential of a looming recession, many organizations learned the importance of master data quality and visibility in minimizing uncertainties. Through both Managed Services and What If offerings, optimized, end-to-end supply chain strategies of tomorrow were built with the agility, scalability and transparency necessary for the rapidly evolving supply chain planning landscape of today. The results? Informed decision-making, a better way to anticipate risks, quicker responses to change and the ability to implement strategic solutions.
The Gift of Resilience
If 2022 taught companies each of our clients one valuable lesson, it was this: mitigating pitfalls and adapting to disruption is the foundation for building long-term supply chain resilience. When organizations fully realized the importance of their data rich collaborative supply chain relationships, it led to decreased risks and far better responsiveness. Continuing to develop supply chain resilience required the ongoing alignment of the organization to engage with their own metrics. Further, it provided incentives for internal teams to fully adapt to digital capabilities. By documenting the value of data, workflows built a stronger foundation based on a “start small and build” approach. Creating resilience allowed organizations the opportunity to directly institute more nimble and iterative deployments – expanding at a pace that is right for the individual organization.
The Gift of Returning to Business as Usual
According to the latest Logistics Managers’ Index, as we look ahead to 2023, leading indicators are beginning to point away from a constant state of supply chain chaos and towards a gradual improvement over the coming year. The September LMI report read, “September’s future predictions hint at normalization and a return to business as usual over the next year….there are multiple different ways to look at this, [but all indicate] a full reversal to normality should come in March 2023.” Additionally, Sea-Intelligence, a leading supply chain research and analysis firm, states roughly half of the congestion that has plagued the shipping industry during 2022 is now resolved—and the pace of recovery is slowly improving.
The Gift of a Bright Future in Supply Chain
By paying attention to where our clients stand, organizing processes and strategically mapping out a clear supply chain path guided by decision workflows and automation, a mature model of efficiency will be a consistent gift to our clients of all sizes in the new year. Through investing in a tried-and-true, end-to-end supply chain journey, responsiveness will increase and long-term business value will create a bright future. The more we understand the strategic combination of digitalization, advanced planning tools, transparency and resilience throughout the supply chain industry, the more positive outlook we can have to assure global market success in 2023.