Supply Chain Briefing

March 12, 2019

According to Bloomberg, Amazon disrupts again. They have abruptly stopped selling products from their wholesalers and are instead encouraging suppliers to sell on their marketplace, transferring the purchasing, storing and shipping of products to the supplier. The marketplace business is already estimated at $250 billion in value which is more than double the online retail business. They also pulled volume from some suppliers less than $10 million annually. If you are in either of these positions, this could be a substantial disruption especially with no notice! 

According to the Journal of Commerce, Amazon is also disrupting container shipping with its increased use of its ocean forwarding arm. For example, with its non-vessel-operating common carrier (NVO), Amazon is gaining greater control over its internal supply chain but the key is whether it is thinking about building a supply chain platform. 
 
Amazon isn’t the only disruptor. Are you proactively thinking about navigating disruption?
 

What Should We Consider and/or What Impacts Could Arise?

Hardly a day goes by without some sort of disruption, natural disaster or other event such as the Boeing 737 Max concerns. There is no way you can be prepared for every potential issue that will arise. With that said, it is remiss not to consider the most likely and relevant risks. Do you have a process to incorporate these into your strategy and execution plans on a frequent basis? Gone are the days of the 5 year strategy, updated once a year. Business is moving at a much quicker speed!

In addition, start looking at how to build an agile and resilient end-to-end supply chain. Start internally. Are your people prepared for the daily, weekly and monthly changes most likely to impact your business? Do they have backup plans? Or will it take a lengthy approval process to get a critical decision made to navigate disruption? Don’t just assume you are covered. Go and find out. If you’d like some tips for managing disruption, take a look at our resilient supply chain series.