How Supply Chains Survived the 2021 Holiday Season

SupplyChainBrain
8 Feb 202211:27

Summary

TLDR在2021年的假日季节,供应链面临前所未有的挑战。KPMG的供应链和运营负责人Brian Higgins认为,尽管存在诸多不确定性,零售供应链总体上成功应对了这一高峰时期。他提到,公司提前准备,零售销售同比增长8%至10%,显示出供应链的弹性。然而,他也指出,为了应对假日季节,供应链采取了一些非常规措施,如预付亚洲供应商的集装箱费用、空运成本飙升等,这些措施可能会侵蚀利润。Higgins强调,尽管短期内成功,但供应链仍需解决结构性问题,以避免未来再次出现类似的“英雄式”应对措施。他预见,供应链合作伙伴网络、制造基地和物流提供商之间的关系将发生永久性变化,以适应新的供应链世界。

Takeaways

  • 📈 2021年的假日季对零售供应链来说是一个成功的时期,销售增长在8%到10%之间。
  • 🛍️ 消费者提前购物,以避免假日季物流拥堵,这有助于缓解供应链压力。
  • 🏬 零售商通过提供线上购买线下取货等服务,成功吸引了顾客到店。
  • 🚚 物流公司如UPS、FedEx和USPS通过提前准备,较好地应对了假日季物流高峰。
  • 🤔 尽管假日季表现不错,但仍存在供应链结构性问题,需要进一步解决。
  • 👷‍♂️ 供应链中的“英雄行为”和非常规做法,如预付运费、接受有质量问题的货物等,可能不会持久。
  • 🚫 供应链中的一些非常规做法,如过度依赖空运和支付高昂的运费,正在侵蚀利润。
  • 🔮 供应链高管正在寻求提高对供应链的可见性和预测能力,以更好地应对未来的挑战。
  • 🌐 供应链的数字化转型和高级规划系统正在被考虑,以提高供应链的效率和韧性。
  • 🛠️ 供应链高管正在考虑对供应链基础进行结构性改革,包括重新评估供应商基地和整体网络。
  • 🔄 供应链中的一些临时解决方案需要被更持久和可持续的策略所取代。

Q & A

  • 2021年假日季节供应链面临的主要挑战是什么?

    -2021年假日季节,供应链面临的主要挑战包括早期的假日购物季、对供应链中断的担忧、劳动力短缺以及零售销售的显著增长。

  • 为什么零售商在2021年假日季节能够取得成功?

    -零售商之所以能够成功,是因为他们提前从供应链角度做好了准备,并且零售销售在假日季节的最后几周实现了8%到10%的同比增长。

  • 消费者为什么会在2021年假日季节提前购物?

    -消费者提前购物可能是因为被告知要尽早购物以避免供应链中断,确保节日礼物能够及时送达。

  • 供应链中的哪些非零售环节在2021年假日季节表现良好?

    -非零售环节如UPS、FedEx和USPS等物流服务提供商在假日季节表现良好,他们预见到了压力并成功应对。

  • 供应链中的“非自然行为”指的是什么?

    -“非自然行为”指的是为了应对假日季节的压力,供应链高管采取的一些非常规措施,如预付亚洲供应商的集装箱费用、处理质量问题、空运成本飙升等。

  • 供应链中的结构性问题指的是什么?

    -结构性问题指的是供应链中尚未解决的根本性问题,如港口拥堵、进口量、劳动力可用性和成本、原材料稀缺性等。

  • 供应链高管在假日季节采取了哪些措施来应对挑战?

    -供应链高管采取了多种措施,包括预付运费、接受质量有问题的货物、使用空运以及延长工作时间等,以确保货物能够及时送达。

  • 假日季节后,供应链高管将如何继续维持成功的供应链?

    -高管们计划解决结构性问题,如重新评估供应基地、重新设计整体网络、审视每个工厂的目的和使命,以适应新的供应链环境。

  • 供应链中的“新常态”是什么意思?

    -“新常态”指的是供应链中的环境和条件发生了变化,需要供应链高管适应这种变化,采取新的策略和措施来维持供应链的稳定性和效率。

  • 供应链高管如何看待未来的供应链合作伙伴网络?

    -高管们认为未来的供应链合作伙伴网络需要更加智能化和灵活,以应对不断变化的市场需求和供应条件,同时也需要更好地预测和管理风险。

Outlines

00:00

🛒 2021年节日季供应链挑战与应对

本段讨论了2021年节日季零售供应链的表现。Brian Higgins,KPMG的供应链和运营领导者,分享了他对节日季的回顾。他指出,尽管面临前所未有的挑战,但许多公司准备充分,供应链表现良好。节日季的零售销售同比增长8%至10%,显示出供应链的弹性。然而,尽管整体成功,Higgins也提到了供应链中存在的结构性问题,这些问题可能在未来显现,需要解决。

05:02

🚚 供应链中的“非常规行为”及其后果

Higgins在第二段中详细讨论了供应链中的“非常规行为”,这些行为包括预付亚洲供应商的集装箱费用、处理质量问题、空运成本飙升等,这些都对利润造成了侵蚀。他强调,尽管这些措施帮助公司度过了节日季,但它们并不是长期的解决方案。Higgins认为,供应链需要解决这些结构性问题,以避免未来的风险。

10:04

🔮 供应链的未来:结构性改革与长期规划

在最后一段中,Higgins探讨了供应链的未来,强调了结构性改革的必要性。他提到,一些公司正在重新评估其供应链基础,重新设计网络,并确保每个工厂的目的和使命都适合新的供应链环境。Higgins认为,尽管短期内采取了“非常规行为”,但长期来看,供应链需要更加智能和有弹性,以应对未来的挑战。

Mindmap

Keywords

💡供应链

供应链指的是从原材料到最终产品交付给消费者的整个流程,包括生产、运输、仓储和分销等环节。在视频中,供应链是讨论2021年假日季节零售业表现的核心主题,特别是在应对疫情带来的挑战和变化时。例如,Brian Higgins提到,供应链需要应对劳动力短缺、运输成本上升和原材料稀缺等问题,这些都是影响假日销售成功与否的关键因素。

💡假日季节

假日季节通常指的是年末的购物高峰期,如圣诞节和新年。在视频中,假日季节被特别提及,因为它是零售供应链表现的一个重要考验期。Brian Higgins指出,2021年的假日季节与以往不同,供应链需要提前准备以应对预期的需求激增,这体现在零售销售的显著增长上。

💡零售销售

零售销售指的是零售商直接向消费者销售商品和服务的过程。视频中提到,2021年假日季节的零售销售比前一年增长了8%到10%,这表明尽管面临挑战,零售供应链整体上还是成功的。这一增长是衡量供应链效率和效果的关键指标之一。

💡提前购物

提前购物是指消费者为了避开假日购物高峰期的拥堵和延迟,选择在假日季节前购买商品的行为。视频中提到,由于对供应链可能的延误和中断的担忧,许多消费者选择了提前购物,这可能有助于缓解了假日期间供应链的压力。

💡物流

物流涉及商品从生产地到消费者手中的运输、存储和配送过程。在视频中,物流公司如UPS、FedEx和USPS在假日季节的表现被提及,它们通过提前准备和应对高峰需求,成功地避免了包裹延误和交付失败的问题。

💡劳动力短缺

劳动力短缺指的是在特定领域或行业,可用的劳动力数量不足以满足工作需求的情况。视频中提到,供应链面临的一个主要担忧是劳动力短缺,这可能会影响到商店、仓库和运输卡车的人员配备。尽管如此,供应链似乎还是设法应对了这一挑战。

💡供应链高管

供应链高管是指负责管理公司供应链运营的高级管理人员。在视频中,Brian Higgins提到参与了一个首席供应链高管论坛,从这个论坛中收集了关于供应链表现的一手信息和见解,这些信息帮助他了解了供应链在假日季节的实际运作情况。

💡数字化转型

数字化转型指的是企业通过采用数字技术和工具来改进其运营和业务模式的过程。视频中提到,一些公司正在寻求通过数字化转型来提高其供应链的可见性和预测能力,以更好地应对市场的不确定性和变化。

💡结构性问题

结构性问题是指那些根深蒂固、难以通过临时或短期解决方案来解决的问题。在视频中,Brian Higgins提到,尽管假日季节的供应链表现相对成功,但仍存在一些未解决的结构性问题,这些问题需要长期和根本性的解决方案。

💡供应链网络

供应链网络是由多个组织和实体组成的复杂系统,它们共同协作以生产和交付产品。在视频中,供应链网络的未来被讨论,特别是在考虑如何应对长期变化和挑战时,如何重新评估和调整合作伙伴关系、制造基地和物流服务提供商。

Highlights

2021年假日季供应链面临的挑战和应对措施。

KPMG的Brian Higgins认为2021年假日季对零售供应链来说是一个成功的时期。

供应链企业提前准备,应对假日季的挑战。

假日季零售销售同比增长8%到10%。

消费者提前购物以避免物流延误。

供应链高管论坛显示,零售商和物流公司成功应对了假日季。

Buy Online Pick Up In Store (BOPIS)和路边取货服务的增加。

物流公司如UPS、FedEx和USPS成功应对了假日季的物流压力。

供应链中的“非自然行为”和临时解决方案。

供应链高管对假日季的非常规做法表示担忧。

供应链中的结构性问题尚未得到解决。

供应链企业需要从临时解决方案转向结构性问题解决。

供应链中的变量和不确定性仍将持续。

供应链企业正在寻求提高预测能力和透明度。

供应链企业考虑重新评估供应基地和网络结构。

供应链的未来可能包括对合作伙伴网络和物流提供商的永久性改变。

Brian Higgins对供应链未来的洞察和建议。

Transcripts

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how supply chains survive the 2021

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holiday season

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brian higgins is principal and supply

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chain and operations leader with kpmg

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hello brian

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hi bob

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thanks for being with me i really

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appreciate it so i'd like you to give me

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to the extent you're able to not that

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far after the conclusion of the just

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concluded holiday season

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a brief post-mortem on how retail supply

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chains fared during the peak holiday

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season

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yeah hey happy to talk about it and it's

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your point or sort of uh on the heels of

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it i think

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you know all of the sort of i would say

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bob the early indicators are in right

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and and i'll talk about it probably in a

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couple of different uh dimensions i

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guess

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first of all like for the companies that

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we service so for our client base

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generally i think it was regarded as a

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pretty successful holiday season

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right this this was like no other i've

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experienced in the history of my career

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in terms of the

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expectations and the hype around it and

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the concern around it so i think it was

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fairly obvious on one level it was it

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was a really early holiday buying season

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right so companies prepared from a

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supply chain standpoint well in advance

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right and and i think that work paid off

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on one level right and and the biggest

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measure of success for a lot of the

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clients that we interact with is just

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the the increase in retail sales in the

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last couple of weeks on an aggregate

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basis you've seen them as well as i and

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you know whether it's in that eight to

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ten percent you know increase in overall

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retail sales for year over year uh from

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a holiday season that's sort of the

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general accepted kind of

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uh metric at sort of the aggregate level

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right and then you know we can certainly

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peel that back a little bit but i guess

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i'd start by saying all in all on an

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aggregate basis i think it's generally

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regarded as a pretty successful uh

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holiday season well that's interesting

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because we had some dire predictions

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about how first of all maybe one of the

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reasons why shoppers shopped early is

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because we kept telling them to everyone

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said shop early it's going to be a

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disaster you're not going to get your

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packages in time so it seemed like a lot

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of shoppers went ahead and did that

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but we don't hear about a lot of

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disastrous cases of packages being held

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up not being delivered for days and days

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you know didn't make it for the holiday

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season so

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better than we thought right

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yeah i i think so i think so you know

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and again from a more anecdotal

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standpoint you know i've got the benefit

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of participating in a chief supply chain

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executive form that we sponsor and

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that's really good information right so

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that i can pick up on some of the more

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anecdotal evidence and i think

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anecdotally you know i've certainly

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heard from a number of our clients that

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uh

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i guess from a retail standpoint people

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came in stores and they leveraged some

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of the things that our client executives

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were hoping that they would leverage so

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the the buy online on pickup in store

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great you know that that we did see some

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uptick in the the curb side kind of pick

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up yes we saw some uptick in there was

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an anticipation that people would be

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coming in stores and i think that that

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did

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at a high level that played out right

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and again despite all the all the latest

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you know virus concerns and

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and issues that were prevailing

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and then i think from the other

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dimension from the non-retailers from

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the providers the ups is the fedex the

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usps kind of thing

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that fell into the category of i think

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they anticipated the crunch and

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navigated fairly well yeah again this is

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sort of all in the spirit of

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relatively good news right um and and i

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do have a perspective on hate coming out

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of this you know what we can expect but

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i think your first question around

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how some of the components and stresses

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and strains for an overall supply chain

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fared i think

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you know again inaccurate relatively

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well i wonder if it's because we learned

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some of the lessons of the previous

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holiday season i mean ups and fedex both

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put caps on the amount of stuff that

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they would take from large large

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shippers and maybe that helped to keep

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them from melting down right

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yeah no absolutely i i think you're

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right i mean you think about it this is

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what

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almost the third

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third third kind of a season where we're

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experiencing some of this uh yeah

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crazy variability right which influences

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all the all the noise and things yeah i

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guess the one big wild card that

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everybody was afraid of was the impact

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of what's been described as a widespread

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labor shortage you wouldn't get enough

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people to

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staff the stores to staff the warehouses

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and to drive the trucks but it appears

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that well

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maybe we did have enough just enough to

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get by i don't know what do you think

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yeah i i think there was sort of in in

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pockets jeff just enough to get by i can

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tell you though one of the things i'm

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really interested in and we're having

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more conversations now that the dust has

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settled a little bit from this hyped up

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holiday season

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is

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it's clear to me but there's a lot of

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patchwork done

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to to move products through the supply

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chain to unclog the cholesterol so to

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speak right but there's still a lot of

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structural supply chain issues at play

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that haven't really yet been addressed

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that it's gonna come to roost because

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there was a lot of heroics and a lot of

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unnatural acts things that i would

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describe as unnatural acts yeah

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to i guess to enjoy this this you know

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relatively um

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successful or flat out successful

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holiday season so

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and what i'm talking about there in

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terms of unnatural acts i can't tell you

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how many supply chain executives that

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i've spoken to that give me you know

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information saying hey brian we're doing

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things in this holiday prep season that

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just make me terribly uncomfortable you

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know we're prepaying for asia-based

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suppliers containers arrive with a ton

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of quality issues but you know what we

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got to do it right to get our fair share

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in this in this allocation mode air

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freight all-time high that's eroding

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profit you know the unloading trailers

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you know it took me

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37 hours prior to this it's ballooned to

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57 hours so everything is more difficult

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uh costing more

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and and just in a challenge to navigate

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and i think in general

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supply chains prepped for this i think

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they navigated fairly well but i do

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think it's going to come back to roost

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bob i think now that yeah through the

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holiday season a lot of these structural

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issues you know are going to be

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needing to be addressed well what you're

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just describing sounds more like

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firefighting or even triage than it does

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what you would normally do on a daily

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basis with the supply chain even during

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a peak season so going forward then tell

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me about how we can emerge from this and

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and and get back to some semblance of

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normality i i know they will talk about

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the new normal or whatever

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but how can they go forward and contain

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continue these successful supply chains

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without resorting to these

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unnatural acts you just described

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yeah i i think the first thing that that

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i guess we all need to get comfortable

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with is that the environment that we

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were participating in prior to the

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holiday is still going to persist in

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terms of this

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unprecedented supply and demand

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variability and really that's what's

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driving all this madness so if you look

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at the supply side there's so much

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variability in the port congestions and

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the import volumes and the labor

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availability and some of the labor costs

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that you've already addressed

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but but it spills beyond that right it's

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all the manufacturing input costs are

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also hugely variable the raw material

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scarcity

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right and then on the demand side

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there's an equal number of

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drivers right that are also continued to

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be variable the least of which is the

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new covet cases

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right now they're influencing the supply

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chain in a different manner

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but but that's that that's that's a

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factor on the on the demand side the

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consumer sentiment

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you know the the the wage growth the

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real disposable income all of these

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things you put it into a pot and you

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stir it up

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and and then it's the the same factors

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that we're producing this variability

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prior to the holidays are for the most

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part still persisting i think we're

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going to see some

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stability but i don't think it's going

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to be a oh okay you know all of a sudden

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we're in a position where it's a whole

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different you know stable environment

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right so if we sort of wrestle with that

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or come to terms with that that's where

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i'm seeing now okay

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well now i think we've got to address

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some of the more structural issues that

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i described and i think that a lot of

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the folks that we work with are are now

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moving a little bit to say i survived

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the holiday

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now i've got to get to some of the

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structural issues and that's where a lot

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of the hard work kind of kind of is and

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instead of that patchwork or that

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quick fix kind of thing but i just

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wondering how it affects the future of

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supply chain partner networks uh you

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know how where the partners will be

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where the manufacturers will be how

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companies will deal with their logistics

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providers going forward there's got to

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be some permanent changes that are in

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the cards for these supply chains is

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there not and i wonder what form they

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might take

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yeah i think you're absolutely right and

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i think there's there's two

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i guess high-level schools of thought

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that i'm seeing our clients sort of

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wrestle with you know there is a

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a a set of circumstances where

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executives are saying hey

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all this nuttiness and all this

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variability has convinced me that i

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don't have enough

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uh visibility i don't know if i have

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enough planning capabilities to

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understand what's coming my way

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and we've seen that in the form of you

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know

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advanced planning systems digital

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transformation around that people trying

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to increase skills to get a better

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understanding of their forecast and

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what's coming very very difficult but

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that's certainly a school of thought the

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other one is saying hey you know what i

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don't know if i'm ever going to get

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comfortable on getting a better

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understanding of predicting what's

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coming my way because of all these

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dimensions

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and that that sort of categorization are

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the folks that are working on some of

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the more foundational changes that you

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described saying hey i have got to get

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myself smarter and better to buffer some

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of this variability i need the shock

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absorbers in my system because i know

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the shocks still going to come

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and those are the companies that are

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saying hey i'm going to reevaluate my

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supply base i'm going to revamp my

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overall network i'm going to look at the

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purpose and mission of every plant that

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i have and make sure that that's that's

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suitable for my new supply chain world

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no problem

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not a problem

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right yeah yeah that comes with the

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territory um okay so if i if the to some

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extent these these shippers and

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companies can catch their breath

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and make these long-term plans and

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change from what you described as

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unnatural acts to natural acts let's

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hope that that will have some impact on

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supply chains going forward but

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brian higgins great speaking with you

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today kpmg thank you very much for your

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insights really appreciate it

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yeah i appreciate it thank you bob

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thanks

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