Time, cost, and quality are no longer the sole determinants of supply chain strategy. While those principles remain important, organisations are responding to geopolitical, regulatory, and other events, as well as changing customer expectations, by adopting a more holistic supply chain strategy.
Today, organisations are seeking to improve the agility and resilience of their supply chains so that they become strategic assets that they can use to achieve key objectives for the business, rather than simply cost centres, according to EMEIA board priorities 2024. This is particularly important in the digital age when more sales are made online and consumers expect their goods to be shipped and delivered quickly.
Boards can work with their management teams to govern an integrated supply chain approach from strategy to cost to resiliency.
Businesses are increasingly turning to technology to achieve these goals whilst at the same time keeping costs under control. Robots that undertake picking tasks in warehouses and control tower solutions that automatically collect and analyse data from across the supply chain can deliver new efficiencies while AI-enabled intermediary technology can organise the delivery of products directly from warehouses to consumers. Drone technology will increasingly come into play for last mile deliveries in the coming years.
Five questions for boards to consider
The board’s oversight of the organisation’s supply chain is critical for integrating operational as well as strategic aspects. The importance of sustainable supply chains has only grown in the past few years. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, it is imperative for boards to ask the right questions to ensure that management teams take the right steps to achieve the twin goals of sustainability and resilience.
Here are the five questions that boards need to ask:
Key actions boards can take in 2024
The questions need to be supported by actions that can enable boards to help organisations navigate geopolitical challenges to build sustainable supply chains. Boards can play a pivotal role in guiding organisations to build more circular supply chains, encouraging resource efficiency and creating a more resilient business model. They can:
Summary
Supply chains have been strained to breaking point by a combination of factors including geopolitical events, climate change and policy changes. Boards can help their organisations to address this challenge by working with management teams to ensure supply chains are designed to be as resilient and flexible as possible as well as being capable of responding to new policy pressures as they arise.