As 2012 Draws To A Close…..
2012 turned out to be a great year for supply chains. Transportation was obtainable, costs to serve remained low, inventory reductions continued to occur, customers became a little happier with their suppliers and all supply chain organizations became very used to the “once in a lifetime” supply disruptions that occur once every quarter. What will be more interesting is how 2013 will progress but one aspect of 2012 will absolutely continue into 2013
Execution will be the primary focus of retailers and manufacturers and more visibility into this process will be sought.
This encompasses all aspects of execution from planning through product delivery. The total product supply chain will continue to evolve to ensure that all players in the chain will move in lock step with one another. Companies will focus on this critical aspect of the business even if it is not widely publicized and it will only become more critical. Why? Because consumers are fickle and organizations will focus on catering to this. Whether that is moving manufacturing bases back to the US, adding additional forward warehouses or creating better ways to move products faster companies will find a way to deliver on this single requirement. Planning will always be critical to an organization but being able to quickly compensate on the “forecast error” in a plan will be a larger and larger differentiator.
Alex Fuller — December 31 3:47pm
Definitely some interesting things this past year. I can’t agree more that “once in a lifetime” problems are becoming commonplace. What’s amazing is that supply chains are slowly evolving to handle these issues without too much disruption.
It’s also good to know that there weren’t too many labor problems at the ports, although I’m sure those will pick up again in 2013 and beyond.
As you said, it will be interesting to see if more manufacturing returns to the US. I’m also excited to see supply chain innovations trickle down from the big players and become more accessible and affordable for small businesses as well. SaaS supply chain tools are something that will grow significantly in 2013.
Have a great new year, and then we’ll get back to work.