ASCM's Top Trends in Supply Chain for 2024

Summary

在2024年供应链管理专业人士协会（ASCM）的十大趋势发布会上，主持人Matthew Talbert与专家小组讨论了供应链领域的关键趋势。专家们强调了数字化供应链作为基础的重要性，并探讨了大数据、人工智能、机器学习等技术如何提高供应链的效率和透明度。同时，讨论了可持续性、人才投资、网络安全以及供应链的去全球化等议题。这些趋势不仅反映了行业当前的挑战，也指明了未来供应链管理的发展方向。

Takeaways

• 📈 **数字化供应链**：数字化供应链成为2024年供应链管理的首要趋势，强调了从采购到交付和退货流程的全面数字化。
• 🌐 **全球化与地缘政治**：供应链的全球化和地缘政治因素对企业战略产生了重大影响，促使企业重新考虑其供应链布局。
• 💡 **投资于人才**：人才短缺和技能更新成为供应链管理的关键挑战，企业需要在人才吸引、培养和留存上进行投资。
• 🔍 **增强供应链透明度**：提高供应链的可见性和追踪能力是确保供应链效率和响应市场变化的重要措施。
• 🛠️ **供应链的敏捷性和韧性**：企业需要构建更加敏捷和韧性的供应链，以应对不断变化的市场需求和潜在的供应链中断。
• 🌿 **可持续性和绿色供应链**：可持续发展仍然是供应链管理的一个重要方面，企业需要采取措施减少环境影响并提高资源循环利用。
• 🤖 **人工智能和机器学习**：人工智能和机器学习的应用在供应链管理中日益增长，有助于提高预测准确性和决策效率。
• 🔒 **网络安全**：随着供应链数字化程度的提高，网络安全成为保护企业资产和数据不可或缺的一部分。
• 📊 **数据分析和洞察**：大数据分析和人工智能的应用对于从数据中获取洞察、优化供应链流程至关重要。
• 🛳️ **去全球化的供应链**：去全球化或供应链的本地化是企业为减少成本、提高响应速度和应对地缘政治风险而采取的策略。

Q & A

如何理解供应链趋势的重要性？

供应链趋势不仅是一个简单的列表，它们是我们如何将这些趋势转化为组织内部供应链规划的基础。这些趋势就像天气预报，帮助我们适应自己的环境并规划下一步行动。

数字化供应链的当前应用和未来展望是什么？

数字化供应链目前被应用于从采购到交付和退货流程的端到端数字化，例如沃尔玛的无填埋项目。未来，预计会有更多的数字孪生技术和以人为中心的自动化技术被整合进供应链中。

人工智能在供应链中的应用现状和未来趋势如何？

目前，人工智能被用于提高效率，如代码编程助手和文档摘要。未来三到五年内，AI将成为每个任务的助手，前提是企业已经建立了数据模型并将其视为资产。

供应链的可持续性措施的未来是什么样的？

公司已经超越了仅从成本节约的角度考虑可持续性，现在更多地关注于供应链的端到端可见性，以及如何将这种可见性转化为转型能力，而不仅仅是成本优化。

供应链的全球化和去全球化如何平衡，而不增加通胀？

去全球化可能需要对现有基础设施进行移动，但这不一定会是成本效益的。然而，通过与采购和其他内部利益相关者合作，可以在不过度投资的情况下实现有效性。关键在于理解为什么这种策略适合您的组织。

投资于人才这一趋势背后的经济压力是什么？

某些地区存在明显的人才短缺，特别是在技术和工程领域。这种短缺推动了对人才的投资，不仅是为了吸引顶尖人才，也是为了提升组织内部员工的技能。

为什么网络安全在供应链中如此重要？

随着供应链变得更加互联，使用AI等技术，保护资产免受黑客攻击和其他威胁变得至关重要。需要采取敏捷的方法来识别威胁，并制定策略来应对这些威胁。

如何克服数字化转型中的挑战？

数字化转型需要敏捷的方法和强有力的项目管理。关键是从交付工具转变为交付能力，确保数据支持流程，并且与组织的整体战略保持一致。

供应链的可见性、追踪和位置智能面临的主要挑战是什么？

主要挑战是收集数据以实现稳定的、可靠的预测性分析。这需要组织内部和外部供应商之间的数据整合，以及实时的数据处理能力。

如何实现供应链的去全球化？

去全球化需要认识到供应链中的冗余是战略选择的一部分，并且需要长期投资。这涉及到理解未来的需求，创造灵活性，并在正确的地区建立供应基地。

供应链专业人士如何平衡成本和利润最大化？

专业人士需要考虑整个供应链的长期成本，包括关税、客户接近度、响应能力和多样性。通过理解这些成本，可以做出更有利于长期盈利的决策。

Outlines

00:00

😀 2024年供应链趋势发布会开幕

2024年ASCM供应链趋势发布会由Matthew Talbert主持，他介绍了专家小组的成员，包括供应链运营背景的Armand、数据科学战略家Cara Kirtland和拥有16年供应链经验的Lucille博士。他们强调了趋势制定的严谨过程，包括文献回顾、趋势提取和筛选，最终确定前十名趋势。

05:01

🔍 供应链趋势的深入探讨与实际应用

讨论了供应链趋势的重要性，强调了这些趋势不仅是列表，更是如何将这些趋势转化为组织内部的行动指南。Armand比喻这些趋势为天气预报，帮助企业适应环境。Cara强调了数字供应链的基础作用，而Lucille则提到了趋势之间的相互联系，以及它们对组织优化、敏捷性和韧性的影响。

10:05

🌐 数字化供应链的实例与挑战

讨论了数字化供应链的实际案例，如Walmart的端到端数字化努力，以及5G技术在仓库管理中的应用。提到了数据集成、实时可见性和预测分析等关键挑战，强调了打破信息孤岛、实现数据共享的重要性。

15:06

🤖 人工智能在供应链中的当前应用与未来展望

讨论了人工智能在供应链中的多种应用，包括聊天机器人、代码辅助编程和文档摘要等。未来展望中，AI将成为每个任务的助手，但成功的关键在于企业的数据模型和数据的整合性。

20:08

🌏 供应链的去全球化可能性与挑战

探讨了去全球化供应链的可能性，包括重新评估全球足迹、与供应商合作以及利用技术提高灵活性。尽管存在成本和实施上的挑战，但去全球化被视为提高供应链抗风险能力的一种策略。

25:08

💼 投资于人才：供应链中的关键趋势

讨论了投资于人才的重要性，包括应对技术短缺、重新培训现有员工以及提高员工满意度和留存率。强调了人才投资对于适应快速变化的技术和系统的必要性。

30:09

🛡️ 供应链中的网络安全：日益增长的威胁

强调了网络安全在供应链中的重要性，随着连接性的增加，保护资产免受网络攻击的需求变得更加迫切。讨论了如何通过敏捷方法和持续的威胁评估来维护网络安全。

35:12

🌐 数字化转型的挑战与管理

讨论了数字化转型过程中的挑战，特别是改变管理和执行大规模变化的能力。强调了以解决方案为导向的项目交付、敏捷方法和与组织战略一致性的重要性。

40:15

🌏 去全球化供应链的策略与实施

探讨了去全球化供应链的策略，包括理解长期成本、利用分析来优化供应链布局以及与供应商合作以提高响应能力。讨论了如何通过试点项目和模块化来实现去全球化。

45:16

📚 供应链趋势的深入分析与未来展望

总结了供应链趋势的讨论，提供了对每个趋势的详细定义和解释的资源链接。鼓励有兴趣的参与者加入下一年的感应小组，共同开发新的趋势。

Keywords

💡供应链趋势

供应链趋势指的是在供应链管理领域内，对未来发展方向和关键变化的预测与分析。视频中提到的'2024年供应链趋势'是ASM（美国供应链管理专业协会）发布的，旨在指导企业如何适应供应链领域的新变化。例如，视频中提到了'数字供应链'位于趋势列表的首位，显示了数字化在供应链管理中的重要性。

💡数字供应链

数字供应链是指利用数字技术优化供应链管理的各个方面，包括采购、生产、库存管理、物流等。它强调的是数据的实时共享和分析，以及自动化和智能化的决策支持。视频中提到沃尔玛（Walmart）作为一个例子，展示了如何通过数字化实现从采购到交付的端到端管理。

💡可持续性措施

可持续性措施涉及评估和改进供应链对环境和社会的影响，以实现长期的可持续发展。视频中讨论了如何通过可持续性措施来优化供应链，不仅关注成本节约，还关注对环境的正面影响和长期利润率的提升。例如，通过回收稀有金属来减少对环境的影响，并确保供应链的长期可持续性。

💡人工智能

人工智能（AI）在供应链中的应用正变得越来越广泛，它可以帮助企业进行预测分析、优化库存、提高运营效率等。视频中提到AI可以作为一个助手，帮助提高工作效率，如通过自然语言处理技术快速总结文件和洞察力。AI的应用预计将在未来几年内对供应链产生重大影响。

💡全球化与去全球化

全球化是指企业在全球范围内配置资源和市场，而去全球化则是将供应链重新集中到更靠近本土的地区。视频中讨论了去全球化的可能性，以及如何在不增加通货膨胀的情况下实现供应链的去全球化。例如，通过与供应商合作，将生产设施转移到更靠近消费市场的地区。

💡投资于人

投资于人是指在员工培训、技能提升和职业发展上的投入。视频中提到，由于技术的发展和变化，需要对现有员工进行再培训，以适应新的系统和流程。此外，吸引和保留关键人才也是供应链成功的关键因素之一。

💡网络安全

网络安全是保护供应链系统中的数据和信息免受未授权访问和破坏的措施。随着供应链变得越来越数字化和互联，网络安全变得越来越重要。视频中提到，需要持续评估潜在的网络威胁，并制定相应的防御策略，以保护供应链的完整性和可靠性。

💡可视化与追踪

可视化与追踪是指能够实时监控和追踪供应链中的货物流动、库存状态和运输情况。这有助于提高供应链的透明度，优化库存管理，并及时响应市场变化。视频中提到，实现这一点的挑战之一是收集和整合来自不同来源的数据，以实现稳定的、可靠的预测分析。

💡变革管理

变革管理是指在组织中实施新流程、系统或技术时，管理员工和利益相关者的变化。视频中讨论了在数字化转型过程中，如何克服变革管理的挑战，包括确保项目与组织的整体战略保持一致，以及如何确保员工接受和适应新的变化。

💡供应链弹性

供应链弹性是指在面对市场变化、自然灾害或其他干扰时，供应链能够快速恢复和适应的能力。视频中提到，供应链的弹性与优化、敏捷性和可持续性密切相关，企业需要通过投资技术和流程改进来增强其供应链的弹性。

Highlights

2024年供应链管理专业协会(ASCM)的十大趋势公布，由Matthew Talbert主持。

专家小组包括来自不同领域的供应链专业人士，如学术界、数据科学和电信行业。

趋势的制定是一个六个月的严格过程，涉及27至28名小组委员会成员的文献回顾和趋势提取。

供应链趋势不仅是列表，而是如何将这些趋势转化为组织和供应链的实际应用。

数字供应链被列为2024年的首要趋势，强调了数字化作为供应链基础的重要性。

大数据分析、人工智能和机器学习是供应链中获取数据洞察和指导的关键技术。

供应链专业人士需要关注这些趋势，因为它们与优化、敏捷性和弹性紧密相关。

供应链的可持续性措施不仅关乎成本节约，还关乎整个供应链的转型和影响。

供应链的可见性、追踪和位置智能是实现稳定可靠预测分析的关键挑战。

数字供应链的例子包括沃尔玛的端到端数字化，以及5G在仓库和制造中的应用。

人工智能在供应链中的应用正在快速增长，特别是在提高预测和交付的响应性方面。

数字化转型涉及大量变革管理，需要克服执行失败的挑战。

投资于人员是新的趋势之一，反映了经济压力和组织内部技能提升的需求。

供应链的全球化和地缘政治因素对网络安全构成了挑战，需要持续关注和应对。

供应链的去全球化需要考虑战略选择、冗余和长期投资。

供应链专业人士需要理解去全球化的驱动因素，以及如何与组织的整体战略保持一致。

了解整个供应链的长期成本对于做出去全球化的决策至关重要。

Transcripts

good morning good afternoon welcome to

the 2024 reveal of the ascm top 10

Trends in supply chain I'm your

moderator today Matthew Talbert senior

manager of research at ASM I'm also the

liaison to The Innovation and sensing

committee uh the sensing subcommittee

Under The Innovation and sensing

committee puts in a lot of hard work to

develop these Trends so I'm not the star

of the show today I'm going to let our

expert panel introduce themselves

starting with armont thanks for your

kind words Matt my name is araro I have

a background in supply chain operations

as a consultant with KPMG later on as

coo with companies in the UK and

Mainland Europe uh now I'm a senior

lecturer and researcher at the

University of applied

sciences great thank you Cara you're up

next hi Matt I am Cara Kirtland I'm a

data science strategist at HP in our

worldwide supply chain

organization great thank you and

Lucille hello everyone I am Lucille

doctor I am a senior manager at US

Cellular and I have over 16 years of

experience working in the supply chain

field great thank you all um feel free

in the chat to let us know where you're

listening from um think of this as an

ask me anything about the trend so

please prepare as much questions as you

want um but we're going to eat a little

bit of vegetables first um I like to

give an overview of the methodology um

I'm not going to go into great detail on

it we have other resources which you can

read on that but these Trends are more

than just a couple Zoom calls where

these experts arbitrarily pick what they

think is important um it is a six months

long rigorous process the group of about

27 to 28 subcommittee members um they

begin with a literature review um they

extract Trends both of those take about

two to three months um and then there's

a process for which they narrow down a

list of about a 100 Trends down to 20

for a vote and then we get a final top

10 um

so let's get right to the trends the big

reveal without further Ado unless you

are at ascm connect North America this

is the first reveal of the public reveal

of the trends in 202 for

2024 Armand um start us off so we have

the top 10 trends for

2024 so what is the big

question yeah I I guess in the end it's

not just a list of let's have these

Trends it's how we are able to translate

these

uh Trends yes the these things that are

about to set in into our own

organization in our own supply chain so

just imagine that you go out without

looking at the weather

forecast you will always get it wrong

let's look at this as this is your

weather

forecast um and you will adapt it to

your own

circumstances but this could be the

basis of how you plan your next moves so

that's is how while look at um as a so

what

question great thank you uh Cara feel

free to give your take on so what or why

should the people tuning in you you know

care about these Trends sure so I've

been on the on the sensing committee

working on these trends for a number of

years and each year they kind of coales

into a little bit of a change and you'll

see this year there are a few new ones

um some things moved around and I've

been sort of looking at how those Trends

moved each year and really if you look

even at the new

ones those Trends were embedded last

year they were just maybe not called out

specifically and so each year what's

happening with these Trends is we're

getting crisper about for now forward

for the next three to five years what is

the focus where is the industry moving

what are the fundamentals of of um what

should where we should be investing um

our time Talent um and and and resources

and I'm actually pretty excited to see

digital supply chain at the top now

because I look at that as the foundation

um as a as a data science strategist I I

spend my time a lot in in number two and

number three you know big data analytics

um artificial intelligence machine

learning like how do we gain insights

from our data and drive direction I've

I've done um plenty of network analysis

like all of these things on our list are

super important but they only are um as

good as the foundation that we have in

place so um if we get the plan make

Source deliver returns connected

digitally and we really value that data

as an asset um as we design that system

then everything else falls into place so

I'm actually pretty excited about how

this is set up now um like where the

industry has moved and where the um

where the focus really really needs to

be I think we're really well

aligned great thank you Lucille it's

your turn um here we have a list of 10

Trends so what why are these

important my passion for this Trends is

a firsthand experience as a supply chain

practitioner it's based on the issues

and the topics I deal with be it uh a

conversation with industry peers or just

through research we know that these are

relevant and in reflecting through this

stopped in Trends if you look at it they

are connected they are related to one

another organizations are embracing

being optimized being agile being

resilient and this was heightened

because of the supply chain disruptions

we have experienced over the years the

geopolitics that is the reality of our

today along with the pressures to be

green and circular in our supply chain

so

if I look at this I look at them as

either enabler or

driver all the technology that comes

with it if it's AI big data analytics

and having that visibility they are all

comingled so jet Hitman did a good

summary yesterday on her post which I

really liked I wanted to do shout out to

that because it is a call to action for

us as a practitioner examining this to

realize what is relevant to us um and

taking that to our Executives bringing

it to our industry to identify what are

our investments because it's not just

the newest and shiniest thing out there

taking it back and these are not one C2C

strategy reflecting back to your

organization on how you can really

utilize this to get to that path of

supply chain world that we wanted to be

at great thank you um as I mentioned in

the beginning this is is your

opportunity to ask some good nuanced

questions about the trend so we already

have a couple coming in think of those

questions please fire away but the first

one is what is the future of supply

chain and sustainability measures um

Armand uh why don't you start us off

with this with the answer to this

question um great question because as it

says measures so um I think we've got

two aspects one is actually how we

measure how good or bad we're

doing Visa sustainability and the other

is okay what kind of measures what are

our actions to ensure um we we

deliver now it I think um most of uh the

companies are already beyond the cost

savings perspective on on sustainability

I think

uh now

sustainability um it's piggyback r on on

traceability visibility it's seeing

throughout your supply

chain how you can um

connect that endtoend

visibility to create

capabilities towards the transformation

rather than a cost optimization

and if you think of uh measurements it's

it's not just the output as in yes we

see cost

savings but the impact it has for

instance on our immediate environment uh

but also on our long-term

margins um just as as an example we know

some uh rare Metals um are in great

demand and that could mean in certain

industries that our sustainability drive

is not just to recoup those kinds of

metals to um through reverse Logistics

get them back but also to secure

alternatives to secure uh new sources

and that goes far beyond the let's say

the the cost perspective on

sustainability so in

summary I think the measures are more

towards supply chain transformation and

impact

then they are on uh cost reduction and

pardon the expression

greenwashing he thank you armont um I

got I have a follow-up question you know

or sort of rather to piggy piggyback on

that um so and car Cara you touched on

this that all these Trends are important

but a few people have said you know the

first question was on sustainability it

dropped two sloths

does that mean it's lost significance um

or is it still of major significance to

supply

chains yeah so I would I would

definitely not say that it's that it

lost significance everything on the list

is

significant um I think just building on

what armont said

there's if we look back it it hasn't

been that long ago where uh

sustainability wasn't even on the

scorecard for top Supply chains for

Gartner um and that that shift was like

wow this is there's there's a

recognition and A Renewed yes this is

important to supply chain it's important

to um business success it's it's come

full circle to um customers are

demanding it um are you in order to get

contracts there needs to be a certain

level of uh performance in these areas

so in terms of pure measures there's

also that uh we're winning business

because we're doing the right thing and

that that's so that's going to be a

differentiator um for companies not just

that their costs go down and their

profits go up um but they're pleasing

customers and it's becoming this sort of

full Circle um raise all boats if we do

the right analytics about how to drive

the end to-end supply chain to be

circular to be socially responsible to

have these um tenants in place um you

know it impacts the entire supply chain

so where it lands in the top 10 Trends

isn't so much uh isn't as important as

how it is addressed and it is showing up

in the other Trends it's showing up in

how we do our analytics where we do our

investments so I think that's the way I

would look at it yeah that's a great

point that um you can't get from just

looking at this list um but hearing from

the experts that develop this list is

some of these Trends can be enablers of

each other um we have another we have

one specifically on visibility trace and

traceability um Lucille I'm going to

throw this question to you what are the

key challenges for visibility

traceability and location

intelligence uh one of the key

challenges is gathering the data for us

to get to that very stable

reliable Predictive Analytics of our um

to get that visibility is having that

data and data starts within your

organization and then data from your

external factors if it's the input from

your let's say

suppliers those need to be connected

there need to be that coexistence on

both organizations to make sure that the

information flows through so one of the

CH getting that real time visibility or

that more advanced way to let's say

sensing what is happening in um final

mild delivery this is one of the use

cases visibility and traceability or

that um geolocation is on the

transportation world where can it flag

if the road conditions are telling me

which road do I take so the integration

of all this will H it h it will be an

ecosystem so one of the challenges if

it's a siloed approach it's not as

effective thank you for that um this

next one I'm going to kind of do rapid

fire style um someone asked what are

some examples of digital supply chain so

maybe if each of you starting with you

Armand going down the the cameras that I

see um what is an what is one example

that you could provide of digital supply

chain um I yeah if you think of uh

companies um I

think what immediately popped into my

head was Walmart um where they they

really have made a big effort in um in

making sure they have an endtoend

digitization of really from procurement

up to delivery and return flows and the

the neat thing is they they actually

also link that to their and I think most

most of us know their uh um no ways to

landfill uh project so they are able to

trace a lot more so um in

companies I would say that that's a a

primary example and I would see digital

supply chain on the execution side of

things is tying it from end to end from

procurement up to the point where you

have reverse uh flows

um that less examples I would say of

working with um planning as in digital

twins um and

incorporating human centered

automization I think we seen just the

beginning of it okay thank you cara

another perspective do you have an

example a real example digital supply

chain sure so one of the stories I like

to tell uh new supply chain analysts is

um back in the day there were there was

a point in time where I was looking at a

screen with a with a um procurement

specialist and all the data that I

needed for my analysis was on her screen

but the only way to get it was screen by

screen copy pasted out into a

spreadsheet and then analysis could

happen and I said something like it

would be it would be so nice if I could

have the data for each one of those SKS

all in one place at the same time and I

walked away and a couple days later she

showed up at my desk with this stack of

like two feet of paper with this a

screenshot of every single one of the

SKS that I wanted to have um analyzed

and and I thanked her for her effort um

but somehow I guess I didn't ask the qu

I didn't didn't uh describe my my

problem accurately enough because

obviously that was not data I couldn't

take that stack of paper and do any

analysis with it so an example of

digital supply chain is one in which um

the data that we need to run the

business is truly digitalized and we're

not sending spreadsheets back and forth

and and we have a common data model um

so that when I say I've shipped this

many of this product at this time that

that that can be picked up by the next

uh you know node in the supply chain and

they they can ga that data and and at

its best it's all in one data model and

it's not being sent back and forth but

but the data is being um elevated and in

say a cloud environment or a common

environment I love that I love that

we're getting different perspectives but

Lucille it's now your turn to provide in

a real example of digital supply

chain so when I think of digital supply

chain it's a massive environment it's

all the integration of the Technologies

and data throughout our supply chain and

for to be efficient to have that

visibility and that informed decision

making with my background heavily on

Operations Logistics Transportation

manufacturing I remember over five years

ago with um the hype of 5G a lot of the

use cases being brought up are in the

warehousing or the manufacturing world

where um the idea back then of a vacuum

cleaner doing the preliminary audit

running in the warehouse was very cool

at that time and now I've seen it many

times in different operations where it's

scanning data as it's walking through

the um warehouse and sensing if there's

anything that is out of normal if it's

not a in the right place so in the

operations World there are a lot

of application of the digital supply

chain that we are already experiencing

it's not a utopian world where oh

there's all these other things that um

may be happening we are experiencing it

in Lal doses um also in the um time to

the digital um or the data that Cara was

mentioning we are utilizing it a lot in

our operations planning or supply chain

planning Gathering different types of

data from different sources so the

application of that in um demand

planning demand sensing we are seeing

that if you are going to the stores and

um it's capturing what type of product

you're using or sometimes it's asking

you did you like this product those are

little tidbits of data that is being

gathered and being sent back to the

consumer or to the end user of this data

that will be able to identify which

product is really needed or which ones

do we need to segregate a little bit he

thank you excellent question and

excellent answers that was that was good

pra good practical examples next up um

although in the infancy what are the

ways AI is being utilized currently or

how it will be implemented in the medium

term they specify three to five years um

Karen GNA throw this question to

you sure um so I was thinking about what

questions we might get around Ai and it

strikes me that

uh this will not live well like we this

will not uh live on very well because

it's going to move so fast right so in

terms of things that are happening right

now um we have you know chat GPT we have

co-pilots we have the ability to have

that pair programmer that is um helping

with efficiencies right um we have the

ability to summarize documents quickly

um and and gain insights quickly um

where things are going is you're going

to have that assistant that's right

alongside you for every single task but

to get there um this is where those that

have built their data model and have

maintained history and they have

joinability of their data because they

have a common um you know set of Master

data that they they treat as an asset um

they are going to have a better Baseline

and and AI is a multiplier so those that

start at a higher level multiplied will

have that step shift better impr better

performance than those that haven't put

those investments in place so it's

really important that businesses really

think about you can't do AI without the

data model without that digital supply

chain without the the beginning um

investment in the people and the tools

that enable um the analytics to

happen great thank you um next question

and keep them coming um is De

globalization of Supply chains possible

without increasing inflation um I know

that kind of that sort of Blends the

lines between supply chain and finance

which are related um Lucille uh you're

sort of our in our in-house geopolitical

and de globalization expert I'm going to

throw that one to

you certainly uh we talk about um moving

when we think dle bation are we moving

our own infrastructure or are we working

with our suppliers to bring them closer

to us um I will not uh confirm that this

is going to be a cost economical if you

are operating in a large scale because

you have already that existing

equipments that are existing on

different foot in in a wide footprint

globally but um where comes to place the

other players in supply chain such as

your procurement or uh working with the

other stakeholders internally with your

organization um I still believe that it

can be effective um without getting a me

without investing too much because right

now we have we have real-time experience

we we have um we have a real life

experience with what happened four years

ago where we are able to Pivot with our

suppliers um with the enhancements right

now also with the technology it is

easier to work with tier two tier three

suppliers so having that raw material

that is probably forecasted four five

years down the road we can make an

adjustment on that uh as I was saying

with working with the procurement um

resources that is where they can work on

contract negotiations so overall um

bringing back to a closer footprint is

still a practical solution it's been

observed and we see it something that is

um Rising it's the new topic right now

as not just as a reaction as the supply

chain practitioners rethink things it is

more it is make easier to make an

adjustment for something that is

closer I hope I answered the question

yeah uh yeah I think we got your

connection cut out a bit but we got we

got nearly all of your your answer thank

you for that um next question um and

this was a good this these were

presented at a connection Cafe at ASM

connect and there's a lot of discussion

around number four um so that being said

I'm going to throw this question to you

Armand could you elaborate more on the

new trend number four investing in

people what pressures of the economy do

you think contributed to this trend

making the list so there's kind of two

questions in there there's one more more

what is number four and second the

pressures of the economy maybe having an

influence on this getting on the

list I I I think that's an excellent

question um especially

um if you're in supply chain you you you

are really connected to the world as it

is there's there's no way you can avoid

the pressures from the

outside and the two aspects there if you

look look at people as in certain places

in the world there's a distinct shortage

um

of staff and especially if if they think

of Western Europe um if I also in in

areas of the US it's engineering

technical staff um where there there's

really a shortage so that that's pushing

towards the extra um investment and

investment is in time H and in in in

money um

time and money it creates also to

there's talents you want to attract so

these are the people people that make a

an impact in the near

future but there's also people within

your organization that you need to

retrain that you need to bring to

another level because and again these

Trends are interlined uh the systems

that we're using are changing they need

another skill set all together so the

time is not just invested in looking for

uh new people it's also in upscaling

updating the people we already have in

our organization there there is an an

add-on effect if if you do that um

because the people in your organization

will realize that and they're not

treated as an asset but they are a part

of the

organization they will feel more um

listen to they can really show that they

contribute and therefore

attrition will go down so there's an

economic

pressure due to shortages but there's

also almost an inside out pressure where

you see that your

systems um and your

processes will drive the the upscale and

the um updating of

skills great thank you arand um this

next one is another good rapid fire

question um usage of artificial

intelligence is increasing

exponentially which areas of the supply

chain would be affected the most um so

I'm just going to go around quickly on

this one and Cara I'm going to start

with you uh all of

them yeah I mean I I think it really is

going it's going to affect every aspect

of analytics and insights

um uh anywhere we want to drive insights

prediction um I would say it'll probably

start um in planning um planning is

where we're we're bringing in the data

and and wanting to drive those Choice

points so at least that's where I would

think to invest first personally and

planning is a major foundational part of

Supply chains as well so that makes

sense Lucille uh which part of the

supply chain do you think will be

affected the most by

AI I'm more nearsighted right now

because it's the closer operations or

the area of supply chain that I work

with um I think about from product

development procurement manufacturing

because Cara already called out planning

although that's that is currently the

environment I operate with I think that

um those three are the uh currently the

biggest um consumers of this technology

um by being able to identify through

consumer insights being able to identify

what is needed in a velopment of product

and all the way to manufacturing that

there is that stream

of activities that is being driven by

AI okay thank you Armand which part from

your perspective which part of the

supply chain will be most affected by AI

um odly I would go for the the linkage

between uh forecasting and and delivery

um we've seen newspap paper companies um

using AI um to forecast the demand for

papers um at a certain vendor

point and so they they've coupled the um

the forecasting to all kinds of factors

down to the weather even the time of day

the the the the weekday uh the area in

which the vendor point is is located and

and they've already seen tremendous um

um uptakes if you see sales at one point

where they had shortages of

papers H and areas where they always had

leftovers um were brought down and I I I

mean significantly brought down so we

already see the application uh and see

the linkages now also between the

planning part the forecasting and the

delivery

and the AI also makes um makes it much I

would say more responsive to variables

changing right thank you um this next

one um maybe we we could go around again

for for this question so it's around

digital

transformation um which involves sign

ific amount of change management seen

many cases in which the indust in the

industry where the idea was right but

execution failed because of inability to

handle the scale changes both in person

as a system now how do we overcome that

so I'm kind of thinking this is more

around digital supply chain our number

one Trend which is related to many of

them so it's talking about overcoming

the

challenges of digital

transformation um Armon can you start us

off on that one yeah I'm intrigued by um

by the change management part there

um scaling up Solutions is indeed

notorious for uh for failing um if we

see in the the the rapid changes in in

this area this almost calls for a more

agile approach where um you design h

test uh or design build test and and

improve in very short

Cycles uh before

you scale up um the gap between let's

say initial tests and scale up tended to

be very big because and that it makes

good sense to uh sometimes go for a big

bang I I would argue

current situations ask for a more um

agile approach uh as for the change

management um I'm not sure um what the

um what the question was leading to it

almost seems that the human factor there

that we we are not able to take our U

the people in our organization with us

in those changes seems to have an impact

as well and not sure what car and Lal

think about

this yeah so um all good

points when I think

about how to make digital supply chain

work how to

dooc um the thing that comes to mind for

me is with any project you have scope

schedule resources and and you have

sponsorship that that needs to be in

place to to uh make those decisions and

one thing that um tends to be a an

impediment to any delivery is are we

delivering a tool or are we delivering a

solution right and projects tend to get

uh tied up in well I I need to I need to

optimize scope schedule and resources

while I'm out of time here's what you

get right

well at the the end of the time you need

to have a data product you need to have

a solution you need it doesn't matter

that I have a planning system if the

output is not giving me the results that

I need um and so really the way to be

successful in digital supply chain is is

to stop having the mindset of delivering

tools and start having the mindset of De

delivering capabilities data assets if

the data coming out of the tool doesn't

support the next process along the way

then we failed if the data is not

aligned with the step coming in and the

step coming out then we failed and so if

if the question is how do we overcome um

these failures we've had in the past

it's really a change in mindset about

what are the objectives of the projects

and as armont said we need to be agile

right we can't just go in with it has to

be this way and and get to the end of

the project and

and you know we need to be flexible

along the way but by the time we get to

the end it needs to be a solution and

not uh oh we're out of out of time

right thank you Lucille anything to add

to overcome some of the challenges of

digital

transformation um you know adapting to

more digital supply chain yeah I'd like

to pile on to pile on to what Cara said

so I mentioned earlier taking it to your

Executives or to your organization

reflecting how this died to your overall

organization strategy because I have

witnessed some attempts where hey here's

a cool thing generative generative AI

let's bring this this is be something

that can um be a differentiator for us

in the industry but the entire

organization is not yet ready there car

mentioned about having data ready so you

have inputs that you would have to build

on First and if it doesn't balance with

what the direction your organization

would be or even the brand of your

organization that is already something

that is not aligned so

overall when you think about the

enhancements or what uh you're going to

tackle on a digital supply chain it

should be aligned with your overall

organizational

strategy right thank you we have time

for a couple more um and given that this

is your opportunity to get nuanced

questions and input about the trends

someone is asking specifically about

Trend number eight uh which was number

six last year so in general Cara I'm

going to throw this one to you um and

this may or may not be easier or

difficult to answer but how important in

general is cyber security in Supply

chains maybe if you could provide a

little bit more Nuance um to how how

much of a priority that is and why it's

on the

list sure so we need to protect our

assets right um things are changing very

rapidly uh we have uh increased threat

levels in terms of um hacks to the

system um ways that things can go badly

and

we've seen supply chain shut down due to

cyber attacks right so this needs to be

um front center in decision- making um

it's not going to go away as we move

into more connected um Supply chains

using AI um it needs to be in the

Forefront of how we keep our supply

chains uh secure I was I was watching um

a few different um YouTube uh symposiums

on this sort of thing um in the last few

uh months and it it really comes back to

just like with our other analytics we

need to have sort of an agile approach

to what are the threats um how real are

there are they um how might they uh

attack us which tools which data and

come up with a strategy to okay let

let's mobilize go let's go after each

one of those threats as we understand

them so it needs to be a an ongoing

cycle for how we um sort of protect our

assets if I can add on that to

absolutely Matt um our top number 10

Trend the geopolitics and the

globalization it is um it

is it could be a contributor in putting

a risk to this massive in infr structure

that we are in or building

so right now a supply chain practitioner

is probably called to action also

because I don't know if there is truly a

globalized standard on what that

security looks like we probably do not

even know how to govern this what to do

with this abundance of information and

this infrastructure that we have so for

us also is driving for that cyber

security understanding back typ back to

what I was saying on understanding your

investment that's one of the things that

you have to consider is how you would be

able to protect that

information right thank you just just

one one one small addition the the

the it's also on the list because we see

the tension between we need to share

information across our supply chain

within our ecosystem but at the same

time we need to protect it so the that's

a conundrum I would

say great thank you um this has been an

excellent session we're going to wrap it

up with one last question I think will

be a good one to tie a bow around this

um and it may similar to the last one it

may be very difficult or may be very

hard to answer but that question is how

do we Del globalize Supply chains I'm

going to go around the horn on this this

one um and Armand I'm going to start

with

you well how do we that's that's

actually it takes into account that

[Music]

um if we look at the the complexity of

the supply chains U we've built over the

last decade um it was really very much

cost driven uh we were looking for the

the the the lowest point of

cost over time we've seen that the the

the the perception of risk has gone up

considerably um in terms of

geopolitics um but also in terms of um

our vulner

vulnerability of our supply chains so I

think uh the first step is to come to

terms with the fact that um we allow

ourselves some redundance in our supply

chain uh the a that's that's a strategic

choice and so if you start with de

globalization I think that's that's the

first mindset uh

change and the second and this that's an

open door I know so why would you de

globalize so you really have to this is

a very complex

area long-term Investments

involved um very complex and sometime

rapid changing

situations so I think the Strategic

Choice comes first we there's reasons

enough to do it there's also some very

good reasons not to do it but it starts

with the mindset that if we want to

safeguard our supply chains

we need to build in

redundancy right thank you cara you're

up next how do we Del globalize Supply

chains the world's depending on

you well so I've been in supply chain

for a little over 25 years so I've seen

this go uh full circle um when I when I

first started we were Regional for a lot

of the right regions um you know uh

being close to the customer managing uh

cost um as we were able to uh provide

that variety near you know close to the

customer we uh I then actually drove the

analytics that helped us to figure out

well how do we how do we drive profit

Max maximization by centralizing while

still allowing for uh some some late

Point differentiation in the regions and

and now things have changed um to the

extent that there are different drivers

to cost and

complexity um that the analytics uh

would drive us to the the the profit

maximizing future is Del globalization

so the way we go after it is really to

understand um what that future is where

are the the opportunities to be nimble

where are the opportun ities to um to

have the agility um built into the right

places um it's really about moving the

supply base and having those uh

suppliers able to respond in the

different regions so how do you do it

it's it's synergistic with uh knowing

your endent supply chain

recognizing um how to uh create

commonality and modularity where it

where it makes sense um and and you you

get the movement

by in into um deglobalization

by uh piloting right and and uh taking

advantage of

the you working with the overall Supply

base to um provide the the sort of

momentum for you

right thank you Lucille as supply chain

professionals are superheroes we'll ask

you how could Supply chains de

globalize so we have been talking about

this for a long time either it's

nearshoring

reshoring different it's not just the

last four three years that we have been

considering this so there are different

cases that it has been proven effective

especially in

a more demanding environment where the

consumers needed it right away or a

change on on on the demand so in

considering the globalization we have to

consider what are our driving factors

are you exporting a lot from a location

where an increasing tariff might be the

might be the biggest threat in to your

profitability if you're have the risk of

if you're near shuring

or doing it operating domestically are

you then H have that threat of increase

in your operational cost because of the

labor or is it

because there might be some risk

on on neighbor or other political

factors within let's say domestically

within United States so um what I'm

saying is try to understand first why

this is an an approach that fits to your

your organization or your supply chain

because um one of the question earlier I

was a little bit challenged answering

because I cannot point blank say yeah

it's not it it's going to happen you

will require some investment on this so

tying it back to what both Arman and

Kyra has mentioned it's really

understanding the important factors why

this is the solution that is needed for

your operations right now

let me just tag on to that because the

supply chain professional is trying to

figure out well how do I reduce cost and

do this right or how do I at least

maintain cost and do this and um to

Lucille's point the way to get after

that as a supply chain professional is

to recognize the all-in long-term cost

um of the entire supply chain and

recognize

that that uh we're not all about cost

we're about the

profitability um of our supply chain and

our products and our business and as we

start to look at the tariffs um the cost

of of um of having Variety in uh near

with our customers um being able to be

responsive as we have disruptions and

that sort of thing pulling in and

understanding those other costs help us

to recognize that there are savings

associated with being um Regional and

and really driving against those

long-term um realities help us to drive

those right decisions that that then

allow us to make those longer term

decisions great thank you very much um I

want to thank the panel here for giving

their time to answer your questions on

the Fly I hope they had as much fun as I

did and I hope all of you listening

enjoy this as much as I enjoyed

moderating it um there is a blog post on

these trends that goes into more detail

about what each of them mean this is

something unique to the to our Trends

lists uh we actually provide some

definitions and details on what digital

supply chain means for example or

agility and resilience um if you are

interested in developing the next rounds

of Trends and want to be a part of the

sensing subcommittee for next year you

may email me at

research.org we're always looking for

volunteers we'd be happy to have you um

but I just want to thank everyone for

joining and thank the panel for their

time it was a joy thank you thank

you thank you very

much