This is your weekly supply chain bulletin from B2BE for the week starting 5th December 2022.
Each week, we bring you a rundown of the latest trends in the news from across the supply chain industry. We cover the issues most important to you, bringing you useful links to the full articles. This ranges from news on various supply chain disruptions to strategies to lessen the damage. We also include other relevant supply chain related updates. If you missed it, you can read our last edition here. Read on to see what’s making the news this week.
Supplier relationships have changed with ongoing supply chain issues
Covid, inflation, recession, geopolitical tension and a lack of talent are all issues organisations are facing in today’s market. These issues are in turn causing their customers to struggle with consistency of supplier performance. Whether issues stem from production delays, communication fall out, or a disconnect between planning and execution, understanding their supplier performance – and driving a digitally connected planning solution through multiple tiers of suppliers – is now essential.
Could Apple successfully move production away from China?
Over recent weeks Apple has increased their plans to shift a percentage of its production to outside of China. It is telling suppliers to plan more actively for assembling Apple products elsewhere in Asia, particularly India and Vietnam, they say, and looking to reduce dependence on Taiwanese assemblers. Recent protests in the factories responsible for Apple’s production have caused Apple to feel uncomfortable having such dependency on the country.
The supply chain map redrawn
Supply chains of today aren’t the same as they were 10, 5 or even 2 years ago. Geopolitical fissures have disabled the just-in-time model, unwinding decades of globalisation. In the early days of the pandemic, 94% of Fortune 1000 companies experienced supply chain disruption. As businesses look to understand the new supply chain map, they also look at understanding how technology can help with visibility, which they can understand and communicate back to their customers who now expect a different level of service.
The fear for the supply chain in the run up to Christmas
UK businesses are anxious that supply chain chaos and soaring costs that have punctuated this year will scupper the lucrative Christmas trading period. Retail, leisure and hospitality firms are sceptical about reaping the rewards of shoppers spending big over the festive period. Many of these firms generate most of their profits during Christmas.
More information
Thank you for reading our weekly supply chain bulletin where we summarise the latest news! Is your organisation facing disruptions to your supply chain? If so, what strategies are you currently using to protect your transactions?
For years, B2BE has supplied a range of innovative solutions designed to automate and streamline processes across your company’s supply networks. If you would like to find out more, contact us.