Tag Archives: covid 19

Here’s How Supply Chains Are Being Reshaped for a New Era of Global Trade

Posted on by
Nearshoring. Automation. Supplier diversification. Sustainability. Companies are adapting their operations to changing market pressures and geopolitics.

Nearshoring. Automation. Supplier diversification. Sustainability. Companies are adapting their operations to changing market pressures and geopolitics.

When a measure of strains on global supply chains fell earlier this year to levels last seen before the Covid-19 pandemic, it signaled to some that the product shortages, port bottlenecks and shipping disruptions of the past three years were over and that a new era of stability was on the horizon.

But industry experts say a “return to normal,” as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York described its Global Supply Chain Pressure Index in February, hardly means that companies are going back to conventional, some would say complacent, supply chains.

Instead, say academics and consultants, the experiences during the pandemic, along with changes in geopolitics, are leading to broader, potentially long-lasting changes in how companies manage the flow of goods, from the sourcing of raw materials to manufacturing and distribution.

The changes are playing out at factories in India, auto-assembly plants in northern Mexico, ports from the U.S. Southeast to East Africa and mineral mines in Canada and Sweden. The sites are where companies are implementing disciplines such as resilience, regionalization and supplier diversification that came to the forefront as they coped with the severe disruptions that began in early 2020.

The turmoil that began with the declaration of the Covid-19 pandemic first hit companies with sudden shortages of consumer staples as households locked down, was followed by factory shutdowns that interrupted the flow of goods and then hit transportation networks as an abrupt snapback in demand led to overstuffed ships and enormous backups at ports.

By April 2020, the New York Fed’s supply-chain stress index had shot up to double the level it reached during the recovery from the 2009 financial crisis. It finally fell back early this year to levels more typical of a measure going back 25 years.

“Some stresses have been taken off, there are fewer supply shortages, and things are a lot less hectic, but we certainly are not back to normal,” said Patrick Van den Bossche, a partner and global analytics practice leader at consulting firm Kearney. “There is a subdued level of urgency but a lot of things have changed.”

Read more at Here’s How Supply Chains Are Being Reshaped for a New Era of Global Trade

Leave your comments below and subscribe to us for a discussion.

How AI Can Solve Supply Chain Financial Management Challenges

Posted on by

Never has the issue of supply chain management been so immense

In particular, Covid-19 has made these challenges all the more prominent, with unprecedented pressure on the supply chain after lockdowns and varying restrictions imposed by different countries around the world. Businesses within the supply chain must be resilient and adaptable as the combination of changes that are underway, such as increased globalisation, digitalisation, and driver and other skill shortages, have increased the industry’s complexity. While Covid-19 restrictions have eased and many countries are learning to live with the virus, the supply chain crisis isn’t going away. Political unrest has hampered the movement of products and services worldwide, notably to and from China and, more recently, Russia.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been cited as a solution to some of the problems businesses within the supply chain. Over half (53%) of UK supply chain decision-makers believe AI advances are crucial to managing disruption. On the finance side, technologies such as AI are being used by innovative companies to better understand their capital through data analytics and performance insights so they can meet their goals through effective financial management. However, data and the overarching strategy must be in the right state to effectively utilise AI, analytics, and data science.

Top three financial management data challenges

1. Granular financial management

Calculating important metrics such as cost to serve is vital for any supply chain business. Still, it can be difficult without real-time data visibility across your service, costs, and inventory. Platforms for enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain management (SCM) produce information on point of sale, inventory, manufacturing, warehousing, and transportation. You can optimise your supply chain if you know how to analyse this data, spot patterns, identify trends, and produce insights. By implementing a supply chain data strategy, you can eliminate complex supply chain issues by implementing a plan backed up by accurate financial data.

2. Data integration & data silos

The use of multiple essential applications is standard practice in logistics businesses, with typical applications including financial planning and analysis (FP&A), delivery planning, warehouse management (WMS), and order management. There are various leadership roles responsible for channels, territories, and products, although traditional monthly management accounts are aggregated at a level above these operational roles at the company P&L level.

3. Data sharing across the supply chain

Within the supply chain industry, it’s important to share data with third parties, including partners, suppliers, and customers – quickly, in as near real-time as possible – to make decisions fast.

Data and AI in action

AI can be embedded into your data platform – it enables you to use predictive analytics to get better insights into all levels of the supply chain – an improved understanding of demand fluctuations and their effect throughout the supply chain. AI data models can help deliver competitive advantage, improve financials and help businesses gain control across many areas. Implementing a big data platform is critical to get insights in real-time or daily. With so much data at hand, the platform must be scalable to ensure success.

This requires breaking down data silos, joining data across the organisation, and using modern advanced analytics in a performant, scalable, and cost-effective data platform with data governance in place.

 

Read more at How AI Can Solve Supply Chain Financial Management Challenges

Share your opinions in the comment box below, and subscribe to us to be the first one to get updates.

Supply chain analytics: 5 tips for smoother logistics

Posted on by
Organizations are increasingly turning to data analytics to navigate supply chain disruptions and to enhance their SCM efforts. Here’s how to do it right.

Organizations are increasingly turning to data analytics to navigate supply chain disruptions and to enhance their SCM efforts. Here’s how to do it right.

The worldwide supply chain challenges that plagued companies in multiple industries throughout 2021 are continuing this year. One potentially effective solution for addressing supply and demand issues is to leverage data analytics.

Professional services and consulting firm KPMG in a recent report notes that several major disruptions are currently affecting supply chains. These include the ongoing global logistics disruptions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic that continue to impact businesses and consumers — as the flow of goods into key markets is restricted by shutdowns of major global ports and airports.

The major logistics disruptions create a ripple effect across global supply chains that ultimately cause goods to pile up in storage, the firm says. Assuming that these disruptions decrease and access to sea and airfreight reverts back to pre-pandemic levels, it will likely take some time before things return to normal, it says.

Other factors contributing to supply chain problems include production delays, over reliance on a limited number of third parties, and labor market shortages. The report also points out that many companies are investing in technologies to automate key nodes within the supply chain.

This year will see an accelerated level of investment, KPMG says, as businesses look to enhance critical supply chain planning capabilities by adopting more advanced “digital enablers” such as cognitive planning and AI-driven predictive analytics.

“The onset of new technology has fundamentally changed the way supply chains operate globally,” the report says. “The consumers are becoming more demanding, and this is leading the supply chains to change and evolve at a faster rate. Modern operations are focused on technology and innovations, and as a result, supply chains are becoming more complex.”

How can organizations best use data analytics to enhance their supply chain management (SCM) efforts? Here are some best practices, according to experts.

Turn data into actionable, simple insights

Most companies are awash in large volumes of data, often stored in diverse systems and databases, says John Abel, CIO at networking technology company Extreme Networks. Supply chains have the added complexity of additional data sources being generated from extended partners such as outsourcing, logistics, and distribution operations, he adds.

“As a result, many struggle to use this data to generate meaningful insights beyond top-level metrics and descriptive statistics,” Abel says. “Data analytics tools can deliver deeper, actionable insights as well as improve accuracy of those insights.”

Focus analytics on difference-making areas

Supply chain organizations are being inundated with data such as customer orders, item information, equipment utilization, and ever-evolving transportation costs, says Erik Singleton, expert practitioner for global supply chain at consultancy North Highland Worldwide Consulting.

“The key to building a successful, customer-centric supply chain while maximizing operational efficiency is using the right analytics to make data-driven decisions,” Singleton says. He recommends that supply chain organizations focus their analytics on three main areas.

Leverage real-time data to deal with disruptions

As both the size and complexity of supply chains grow globally, it is becoming exponentially more difficult to manage and respond to fluctuations across the supply chain, Abel says.

“With data points changing rapidly, analysis and decision-making is often based on outdated information and further exacerbated by the time needed to effectively analyze the data,” Abel says. “To navigate this successfully, supply chain managers need to develop concurrent planning systems that optimize demand and supply by utilizing advanced analytics and real-time visibility across the supply chain.”

Emphasize data governance and quality

The old adage about information, “garbage in, garbage out,” certainly applies to supply chain data, says Mark Korba, vice president of supply chain and business intelligence at Optimas Solutions, a fastener manufacturer and distributor.

“It is important to validate data, especially since it is coming from a variety of sources,” including customer inventory management systems, demand planning applications, supplier software, and others, Korba says. “Often the data isn’t consistent or managed the same across systems, and therefore lacks integrity.”

Make supply chain analytics broadly available

SCM involves multiple facets of the organization, so analytics capabilities need to be shared liberally.

“Make it easy for everyone involved in the supply chain to get the data and tools that they need,” says Arthur Hu, senior vice president and CIO at computer hardware provider Lenovo. “This first requires breaking down any ‘information silos’ and establishing an integrated end-to-end information system.”

Read more Supply chain analytics: 5 tips for smoother logistics

Leave your comments below and subscribe to us for new updates.

Blockchain-based platform for fractional property ownership launches in India

Posted on by
Blockchain-based platform for fractional property ownership launches in India

RealX blockchain-based platform allows Indian investors to buy and sell “direct deeded co-ownership” of holiday properties.

A fintech firm from Pune, India has launched a blockchain-based registry system named RealX that allows Indian citizens to purchase fractional ownership in properties.

A report from The Economic Times states that RealX has partnered with Tripvillas, a holiday home rental service, to blend ownership of holiday properties in accordance with usage and yield. Tripvillas will also be responsible for managing the basket of holiday properties intended for co-investment.

According to RealX chief operating officer and co-founder Neera Inamdar, the COVID-19 pandemic was a key driver for the platform’s launch, as the real estate market’s instability concerned both property developers and investors. Citing the return of a comparatively stable market, she said:

“We offer ‘direct deeded property co-ownership’ and it is in the best interest of investors to become direct co-owners of the property.”

Roshan Lionel Dsilva, founder and CEO of Tripvillas, said that the RealX platform will soon allow Indian investors to co-own international properties on the platform to incentivize dollar-denominated income.

While Indian regulators’ stance on crypto adoption is still unclear, the country continues to experiment with blockchain technology in non-financial niches.

Recently, the government of Maharashtra implemented a credentialing system for providing tamper-proof diploma certificates using the Ethereum blockchain. In partnership with blockchain startup LegitDoc, the Maharashtra State Board of Skill Development has started issuing digitally verifiable certificates.

LegitDoc is also in talks with a few other educational institutions in India that intend to implement a similar solution for countering the ongoing forgery of documents.

Read more at Blockchain-based platform for fractional property ownership launches in India

Understanding COVID-19 and the vaccine cold chain

Posted on by
Understanding COVID-19 and the vaccine cold chain

Understanding COVID-19 and the vaccine cold chain

B Medical Systems discusses the importance of reliable, high quality bio-medical storage and the crucial impact of the vaccine cold chain.
Optimal cold chain infrastructures are vital if vaccines are to reach healthcare facilities at temperatures where their efficacy remains unchanged. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only highlighted the disparities in vaccine roll outs around the world but the logistical hurdles that can arise when transporting and storing medical equipment at ultra-low temperatures. B Medical Systems offers a range of cold chain solutions that can be used to store and transport vital vaccines, medicines and samples around the world. Here, they tell Health Europa Quarterly (HEQ) about some of the key challenges in the vaccine cold chain and how their over ­40 years in operation have helped them become a global leader in providing cutting-edge medical devices.

What sets B Medical Systems’ refrigeration units apart from similar products on the market?

The main factor that sets B Medical Systems apart from other manufacturers out there is our history as experts in the provision of cold chain solutions for vaccines. During our 40 plus years of operations, we have gone through all the ups and downs of the industry; testing our equipment in the most rugged territories in the world. Our main business is in the vaccine cold chain in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia and the experiences that we gained from those areas flow into every product that we have.

What key challenges have you experienced related to transporting vaccines in inhospitable regions?

The main challenge is logistics. Most people will have a refrigerator at home but there are a lot of areas and households in the world that do not have access to power, and the same is true of medical facilities. How do you get a vaccine that is produced with the highest standards in some Western countries – be it Germany, the US, or the UK – to areas without the necessary facilities to keep vaccines stable and stored correctly?

Aside from storing the COVID-19 vaccine, what are some other existing or potential applications for ultra-low temperature freezers?

Any kind of current or future mRNA vaccine that needs or will need to be stored for a long period of time will require storage in an ULT freezer. This though would not be required for those vaccines that only need to be stored for up to two weeks, for instance, but certainly any biological specimen – human, animal and even plant specimens – that you want to store over a longer period need to be stored in an ULT.

Read more at Understanding COVID-19 and the vaccine cold chain

Share your comments and opinions with us, and subscribe us to get more updates.

COVID-19: Managing supply chain risk and disruption

Posted on by
COVID-19: Managing supply chain risk and disruption

COVID-19: Managing supply chain risk and disruption

Coronavirus highlights the need to transform traditional supply chain models

Could COVID-19 be the black swan event that finally forces many companies, and entire industries, to rethink and transform their global supply chain model? One fact is beyond doubt: It has already exposed the vulnerabilities of many organizations, especially those who have a high dependence on China to fulfil their need for raw materials or finished products.

China’s dominant role as the “world’s factory” means that any major disruption puts global supply chains at risk. Highlighting this is the fact that more than 200 of the Fortune Global 500 firms have a presence in Wuhan, the highly industrialized province where the outbreak originated, and which has been hardest hit. Companies whose supply chain is reliant on Tier 1 (direct) or Tier 2 (secondary) suppliers in China are likely to experience significant disruption, even if, according to the most optimistic reports, conditions approach normalcy in China by April.

How can organizations respond to the immediate change?

As the COVID-19 threat spreads, here are measures companies can take to protect their supply chain operations:

For companies that operate or have business relationships in China and other impacted countries, steps may include:

  1. Educate employees on COVID-19 symptoms and prevention
  2. Reinforce screening protocols
  3. Prepare for increased absenteeism
  4. Restrict non-essential travel and promote flexible working arrangements
  5. Align IT systems and support to evolving work requirements
  6. Prepare succession plans for key executive positions
  7. Focus on cash flow

For companies that produce, distribute, or source from suppliers in China and other impacted countries, steps may include:

  1. Enhance focus on workforce/labor planning
  2. Focus on Tier 1 supplier risk
  3. Illuminate the extended supply network
  4. Understand and activate alternate sources of supply
  5. Update inventory policy and planning parameters
  6. Enhance inbound materials visibility
  7. Prepare for plant closures
  8. Focus on production scheduling agility
  9. Evaluate alternative outbound logistics options and secure capacity
  10. Conduct global scenario planning

For companies that sell products or commodities to China and other impacted countries, steps may include:

  1. Understand the demand impact specific to your business
  2. Confirm short-term demand-supply synchronization strategy
  3. Prepare for potential channel shifts
  4. Evaluate alternative inbound logistics options
  5. Enhance allocated available to promise capability
  6. Open channels of communication with key customers
  7. Prepare for the rebound
  8. Conduct global scenario planning

Looking ahead: the imperative for a new supply chain model

A decades-long focus on supply chain optimization to minimize costs, reduce inventories, and drive up asset utilization has removed buffers and flexibility to absorb disruptions─and COVID-19 illustrates that many companies are not fully aware of the vulnerability of their supply chain relationships to global shocks.

Share your opinions with us in the comment box. Subscribe us to get updates.

Read more at COVID-19: Managing supply chain risk and disruption

Cold-chain transport vital to COVID-19 vaccine distribution

Posted on by
Cold-chain transport vital to COVID-19 vaccine distribution

Cold-chain transport vital to COVID-19 vaccine distribution

COVID-19 vaccines developed by China are being shipped to countries across the world.

Produced by one of China’s major vaccine makers, Sinovac Biotech, they must be kept below a specific temperature to remain active.

Before they’re shipped out of a production plant in Beijing, the vaccines are loaded into temperature-controlled containers and sent to the airport by cold-chain trucks.

On Wednesday, a cargo flight from Swissair picked up vaccines at the Beijing Capital International Airport to deliver them to Brazil before Christmas. With international commercial flights hampered by the pandemic, airfreight is now a major mode of vaccine transport.

Beijing Aviation Ground Service (BGS) is the local logistic company responsible for handling the vaccines from the production plant until they are loaded onto an airplane. It is the second company in China certified by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV Pharma).

“This isn’t a new task for us, but delivering vaccines in such a great quantity is something we haven’t seen before,” said Yan Xin, director of BGS’s International Cargo Division. “We’ve set up a special team to handle the process and to ensure the vaccines are well protected and shipped out in the most efficient way.”

Temperature sensors were put both inside and outside the container to record the temperature throughout transportation, and the team also checked to make sure the containers’ battery was fully charged before it was loaded onto the airplane.

Aviation medicine cold-chain logistics has always been the focus of global airlines. However, opportunities and challenges co-exist in the huge market.

The freight business has become a “sanctuary” for airlines in extremely difficult times, with many operating at unprecedented profits in 2020. When quarantines and blockades disrupt flights, freight costs soar, helping operators keep the remaining passenger routes open and avoid bigger deficits. IATA forecasts that airfreight revenues will triple this year to 36 percent, thanks to a 30-percent rise in average freight prices.

Read more at Cold-chain transport vital to COVID-19 vaccine distribution

Leave your comments below or subscribe to us for another updates.

COVID And Now Hurricane Laura

Posted on by
COVID And Now Hurricane Laura

COVID And Now Hurricane Laura

The U.S. Texas and Louisiana Gulf coast region is this evening undergoing mandatory coastal evacuation procedures in the wake of Hurricane Laura, now a Category Four storm with catastrophic strength.

Peak winds are forecasted to be as high as 150 miles per hour (240 kilometers per hour) accompanied by a possible 15-foot water surge at time of landfall with forecasters now warning of lethal flooding and wind damage. Reports point to the potential of upwards of billions of dollars in potential property loses.

Hundreds of thousands of people are reportedly at risk.

As if the COVID-19 disruption was not enough, multi-industry supply chain management teams must now prepare for whatever affects come from this major storm

From a supply network perspective the threatened area includes the epicenter of U.S. oil refining and petrol-chemical facilities, along with the major port areas of Houston and New Orleans. Facilities that are in the path of the storm are already closed and making appropriate preparations including the largest refinery complex in the United States, Saudi Aramco’s Motiva refinery.

Comparisons are already being made to Hurricane Katrina that occurred in 2005 or Hurricane Harvey that occurred in 2017, each storm of similar magnitude which resulted in upwards of $150 billion in property damage, loss of life and multi-days of industry supply chain disruption.

Read more at COVID And Now Hurricane Laura

Share your opinions with us by leaving a comment below. Be the first one to get our updates, subscribe to us now!

Resilience is the New Name of the Game in Supply Chain

Posted on by

Resilience is the New Name of the Game in Supply Chain

Resilience is the New Name of the Game in Supply Chain

For the majority of Supply Chain’s history, this evolution has been driven by a knack for finding efficiency. Companies have leveraged digital tools, and evolving skills, to collect vast data about product or raw materials sourcing, transportation, logistics, and manufacturing. They’ve hired strategic Supply Chain professionals who can turn this data into actionable intelligence, and redesign the supplier, production, and transportation network to get products to market quicker and cheaper. They use advanced ERP software and S&OP strategy to match supply with demand, and turn over inventory faster and faster. “Just-in-time” production has become a hallmark of today’s Supply Chains.

Case in point: research firm Gartner includes the speed of inventory turns as a key metric in its annual Top 25 List recognizing companies for their excellence in Supply Chain.

Now, the top Supply Chain professionals are those who can find those efficiencies, while providing a strong customer experience that safeguards the company’s brand. It’s been a long evolution, and it’s made the field more ascendant within companies than it’s ever been, with a bigger seat at the C-suite table. Risk mitigation, innovation through supplier collaboration, and increased sustainability have also driven Supply Chain’s strategic value – but they’ve taken a back seat to efficiency.

Then came COVID-19.

As we’ve also written about recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused almost-unprecedented disruptions to a majority of companies’ Supply Chains – as many as 72%, according to a recent Supply Chain Canada survey.

We’re four months into the pandemic, and it appears that these disruptions have spurred another evolution:

More than ever, companies are focusing on Supply Chain resilience

All around the Supply Chain world, professionals are shifting their focus to make sure that they can withstand supplier disruptions, not only due to COVID-19, but to future emerging issues as well.

In our recent interview with Procurement Guru Jill Button about the particular Supply Chain challenges of the moment, she highlighted this shift, saying: “People are beginning to understand the risks and fragility of a Supply Chain and not having a sound Procurement practice. I think, as a field, we need to step up and embrace this moment.” In March, at the outset of the pandemic, industry thought leader Bob Ferrari wrote about how, in a world of supplier disruption, companies might shift from a just-in-time inventory model that maximizes efficiency, to one that prioritizes a diverse supplier base to maximize resilience.

Top consulting firms are taking notice too, in their own advice to corporate leaders: Bain, Deloitte, McKinsie, and Baker McKenzie, and others have released white papers in recent days on the importance of Supply Chain resiliency and risk mitigation in this new era.

Read more at Resilience is the New Name of the Game in Supply Chain

Leave your comments below and subscribe us to get updates.

April manufacturing output feels impact of COVID-19

Posted on by

While March began to show how the coronavirus, or COVID-19, began to truly impact the economy, things came into even starker perspective in April, based on data in the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) Manufacturing Report on Business, which was released today.

The report’s key metric—the PMI—at 41.5 (a reading of 50 or higher indicates growth)—declined 7.6% from March’s 41.5, falling for the second straight month, which was preceded by two months of growth. The April reading was 7.5% below the 12-month average of 49.0 and is also the lowest reading over the last 12 months and the lowest reading going back to April 2009’s 39.9. What’s more, ISM reported that April marked the first month that the overall economy contracted after a stretch of 131 consecutive months of economic expansion.

ISM reported that two of the 18 manufacturing sectors it tracks saw growth in April, including Paper Products; and Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products. And the 15 industries reporting contraction in April, in order, are: Printing & Related Support Activities; Furniture & Related Products; Transportation Equipment; Textile Mills; Fabricated Metal Products; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Machinery; Plastics & Rubber Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Petroleum & Coal Products; Wood Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Computer & Electronic Products; Primary Metals; and Chemical Products.

Each of the report’s key metrics saw declines in April.

New orders, which are commonly referred to as the engine that drives manufacturing, saw a steep 15.1% decline, to 27.1 after a 7.6% decline, to 42.2, in March. This marks the third straight month of declines and is the lowest reading for new orders since December 2008’s 25.9. ISM said that two industries—Food, Beverage & Tobacco products and Paper Products—saw growth in April, with the remaining 16 all seeing declines.

Production—at 27.1—was down 20.2%, contracting for the second straight month and is the lowest figure since numeric ISM Report On Business index records were first issued in January 1948, with the 20.2% decrease from March representing the largest one month decline going back to January 1984, when it was down 20.7%. ISM said that two manufacturing sectors—Paper Products and Food, Beverage & Tobacco products—grew in April.

Employment—at 27.5—was down 16.3% compared to March, falling for the ninth consecutive month, and is its lowest reading since June 1949’s 27.2 reading, and represents the largest one-month percentage-point decrease going back to January 1948, when ISM began keeping numeric records. ISM said that each of the top six manufacturing sectors saw employment contraction driven by the furloughs and layoffs, due to a lack of new orders, with social distancing mandates also factoring into the number.

April inventories—at 49.7—headed up 2.8%, while contracting at a slower rate for the 11th consecutive month. The report explained that inventory contraction slowed as was expected, due to supply chain disruptions and the lack of labor to convert material, with 10 manufacturing sectors reporting higher inventory readings in April.

Read more at April manufacturing output feels impact of COVID-19

Share your opinions with us in the comment box. Subscribe to us to get updates.