Future Supply Chain 2016

[Sandy Vosk]

I attended a very interesting event last week which was sponsored by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, NJ Roundtable (CSCMP). The topic was The 2016 Future Supply Chain: building a sustainable collaborative supply chain for the future, through new thinking, new approaches, and better use of infrastructures. The speaker was Bob Boucher, Vice President, Global Customer Service & Logistics, Colgate-Palmolive Company and the presentation was phenomenal. He also serves on the Executive Board of the Global Commerce Initiative, a body of leading global retailers and suppliers, focused on serving consumers better, faster and at less cost.

Mr. Boucher shared that if we look at some of the supply chain industry's major Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) over the last 10 years: on-shelf availability, inventory levels and distribution costs, not much has changed because the industry hasn't addressed the people issues! This continues to be the weakest link. As he so eloquently stated, "A new world demands a new supply chain" and critical success factors for companies will be their flexibility and agility to react to global forces and intensified collaboration with trading partners and suppliers.

The key focus for the supply chain industry will be collaboration and sustainability. Over 50% of the trucks on the roads in America today are half empty. As Mr. Boucher shared, collaboration can result in a 40% reduction in transportation costs. Collaboration can reduce the number of deliveries and truck movements and most importantly the overall costs per packages and pallets. It will also increase companies revenues via higher percentages of on-shelf availability and in-stocks on promotion. Companies will need to embrace collaboration in warehousing, transportation and the sharing of standardized information to survive and thrive in the future supply chain.

To learn more about the research done by the Global Commerce Initiative and Capgemini, register to download the 2016 Future Supply Chain report.

Sandy Vosk is President & CEO of Allied Tracking Systems, Inc. a business intelligence company that specializes in supply chain efficiency and collaborative solutions. For additional information, please go to allied-tracking.com