SEPTEMBER 2020 SUPPLY CHAINS
Bring your
supply chain
partners on your
recovery journey
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businesses the opportunity to
mitigate risk, whether it’s posed
by an acute crisis response
or simply the evolution of an
industry. In reality, this means
ideas like looking at new sales channels such as
direct-to-consumer e-commerce propositions,
or considering new revenue models such as
subscription auto-mobility solutions.
COVID-19 has, and continues to be a
signifi cant disruptive force for the entire
manufacturing industry, and while we are not
quite in a post-pandemic world just yet, there
are plenty of opportunities for businesses to
implement their learnings and improve their
resilience. Pursuing a regional sourcing strategy
is just one of those, but it’s important to consider
that as part of an overall reimaging of the way we
do things.
Breaking down the traditional barriers to
foster a more collaborative way of working will
only bring broader benefi ts, and we hope to
see this change instigated by the pandemic as
one that is here to stay. Likewise, some of the
innovations that have emerged in the last few
months as businesses realised they needed to
adapt or die, have led to genuine and hopefully
longer lasting improvements.
Ultimately, manufacturers looking to reshape
or even re-invent their business into the next few
months and beyond will benefi t from enabling
their supply chain partners to support them on
this journey, drawing on their expertise, breadth
and depth to best position them to service their
chosen markets in the future, whatever that may
look like.
seeing manufacturers focus on
is limiting CapEx and fi nding
synergies with more agile
production and distribution.
Collaboration is very much
an industry buzzword, but
recent experience during
the COVID-19 pandemic has
shown us that it is possible
to collaborate with others
both within and cross-sector
to great eff ect, and we expect
to see more between OEMs
in the future as a way of
sharing R&D costs to reduce
investment. Likewise, shared
distribution networks is
another area we expect to see
expand, particularly in denser
urban environments where
there is the dual benefi t of
limiting costs and emissions.
While many manufacturers
are already making great
progress with digitalisation
strategies, leveraging existing
and developing technologies
in the IoT and robotics space
will provide them with an even
greater ability to streamline
their production processes to
manage risk.
Despite the challenges of
recent months, we have seen
businesses thrive by being able
to quickly fl ex to accommodate
shrinking or growing areas
of consumer demand. This
ability to be fl eet of foot gives
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