In the dynamic landscape of global commerce, staying attuned to the ever-evolving trends of the supply chain is very crucial. In this blog, we will explore what is global supply chain?
You will get insights into the trends that are reshaping the way businesses source, produce and deliver products on a global scale. From digitisation to sustainability, let’s delve into the key forces that drive transformation in the world of supply chain management.
What is Global Supply Chain Management?
A worldwide network that is responsible for the management of goods and products for businesses. It is a complex structure that includes multiple levels and players. Each is an expert at a specific role.
Such roles help the consecutive levels of the chain. The chain also includes employees, information and resources to keep the system running and stay compliant with government regulations.
Supply chain is still a growing field. There are many sectors of the supply chain that are evolving with the help of technology and new rules. With that in mind, let’s explore what is global supply chain trend.
Global Supply Chain Trends
- AI and Automation
AI and automation is gradually becoming quite popular in the supply chain industry. Their main purpose is to streamline and optimise the supply chain process. It does so by automating repetitive and mundane tasks.
What is global supply chain’s role using AI? AI-based systems can quickly identify and address possible risk issues in the supply chain like bottlenecks, delays and disruptions. Using predictive analysis, it can detect unforeseen circumstances. By doing so, it improves the accuracy and speed of inventory management and forecasting. At large, such technology increases efficiency.
It is important to be efficient as like any other service, supply chain management needs to work at its optimum levels to keep up. In doing so, it helps other key players in the chain to stay in time with their activities as well.
- Supply Chain Acts As a Service
This concept of Supply Chain as a Service or SCaaS is another one of the principles of global supply chain management. This idea allows companies to outsource supply chain operations to an external provider- who then manages the entire process from procurement to delivery
It allows organisations to focus on their core strengths and minimise overhead costs. Organisations do not need to invest in necessary infrastructure as they can enjoy the advantages of the latest technologies.
For instance, they have access to predictive analytics and machine learning, to gain insights into the supply chain process and make informed decisions. This in turn also helps to avoid risks- let’s see how.
- Risk Management
Using various technologies means there is always the risk of failure or disruptions or even hacking. So, what is global supply chain’ solution to that? – Risk management is the answer to this problem.
Managing risks for unexpected problems are increasingly important in the supply chain business. Companies have to predict and deal with issues to keep the supply chain running smoothly. They can achieve this by using methods like planning for different scenarios, evaluating risks, and taking steps to reduce those risks.
Companies are also working on making their supply chains strong and flexible to handle unexpected problems. They do this by spreading out their suppliers, improving how they communicate, and investing in backup suppliers.
Just curbing risks and having backups is not enough. Companies need to do more in the wake of the environmental crisis making them shift their focus to sustainability. Supply chain is not foreign to that concept. What is global supply chain’s role in sustainability? Let’s see.
- Focus on Sustainability
Companies contribute to massive carbon footprints. What is global supply chain going to do in such a case?
Supply chains can implement green initiatives by ensuring that all methods and products that they commute are eco-friendly. They can use eco-friendly transportation modes and packaging. They can also make agreements with their supply partners to adhere to environmentally- cautious guidelines.
- Digital Supply Chain with IoT
The Internet of Things, or IoT, is like a vast network of smart devices, machines, and even living things that have special IDs. They can send data to each other without people needing to do it. It’s becoming really popular, and experts think there will be 55.7 billion connected devices by 2025.
What is global supply chain going to do using IoT? Well, businesses like IoT because it helps them:
- See how their machines and operations are doing in real time, including things like supply chains.
- Make things work automatically, which saves money on labour.
- Make manufacturing and delivery cheaper and let customers see what’s happening.
- Using IoT with business software, allows you to make smarter decisions about your supply chain.
Supply chain trends allow businesses to use its full potential. With the help of tools like global logistics and supply chain management, companies can track orders and raw materials and perfect their delivery time, thus maintaining a good relationship with their clients.
Apart from all these trends, there is one more important one that makes supply chain and the use of technology very useful. With the help of global logistics & supply chain strategies, companies can be aware of problem areas and situations in the supply chain. Also known as supply chain resilience- it helps supply chains recover from damages.
Supply Chain Resilience
To tackle global supply chain issues, companies need the latest technology to resolve technical issues. Supply chains face many threats and these include theft, damage and hacking amongst others.
Such threats require companies and the supply chains they avail to put up a strong frontier. That is where supply chain resilience strategy defines and elaborates what is global supply chain. There are 3 main facets of it.
People
To make your business work better, find experienced people for your supply chain, buying things, and engineering. They’ll help your team in a tough situation. Then, have one group to handle the things you buy and another for the people who sell you things. Make sure your team stays informed about new stuff, changes in people buy and sell things, price changes, and what’s happening in the market.
Process
In addition to having the right people, what is global supply chain’s backbone is also how they do the work. When employees have good and efficient systems to help them, they can do their best work.
To make sure their supply chains are strong, companies should make their systems better in predicting, managing inventory, working with suppliers, and doing market research.
Technology
Technology can speed up and make things more accurate in all the processes we talked about. For example, special software like enterprise resource planning (ERP) and electronic data exchange can give you basic data to show why you spend money on things like buying stuff and hiring people.
Also, they give managers a lot of useful information to:
- Know how buying stuff works.
- Decide what customers want, when to make things, and how to get them to customers.
- Prepare for problems like running out of things and react quickly when the market changes.
So, to answer this question of “what is global supply chain and its trends”- the ones mentioned above are the factors you should look out for in 2024. Supply chain is evolving rapidly and businesses must keep up with the latest trends to fully harness its potential.
FAQs:What is Global Supply Chain Trends 2024?
Why is logistics important for a global supply chain?
Logistics ensures the efficient movement of goods, reducing costs, and meeting customer demands, crucial for global supply chains to function seamlessly and remain competitive.
What are the expectations of global supply chains?
Many global business leaders want better visibility in supply chains for stability. Prioritise resilience by having clear visibility and transparency in transport, nodes, and links.
How does a supply chain work?
A supply chain is a broad and well-connected network. It includes many players like vendors, producers, warehouses, transportation companies and distribution centres and more. All levels have a connection to each other and it is a continuous process to get the product from the maker to the consumer.
What technologies are most promising for improving supply chain efficiency in India?
Some of the promising technologies in the Indian supply chain are Internet of Things for real-time tracking, Artificial Intelligence for predictive analytics, Augmented Data Intelligence for decision support, Warehouse Automation and Robotics for faster operations, Last-Mile Delivery solutions, and Supply Chain Management Software for integrated management.
Conclusion
Understanding what is global supply chain and its trends in 2024 is important for businesses navigating the ever-evolving landscape.Embracing technologies like AI, IoT, and sustainability, while prioritising resilience and efficient management, is essential for staying competitive and responsive to market demands. Leveraging these trends with the help of experts at Qodenext harnesses the full potential of supply chain management in the global arena.
