According to UPS's CEO, UPS’ network flexibility gave it an edge over FedEx in landing a deal with the U.S. Postal Service. Instead of following a hub-and-spoke model to service the USPS, UPS can use its regional gateways to support the local and regional requirements of the USPS customers.
The aerospace supply chain has been struggling to recover since the pandemic. The industry has been plagued with shortages, labor issues, and supply chain issues. According to McKinsey, demand was back to 97% of pre-pandemic levels as of December 2023.
There has been a run of strikes or threats of strikes lately with the latest UAW strike impacting the Big 3 automobile manufacturers. If it lasts longer than a few days, there will undoubtedly be a huge impact on the end-to-end supply chain as well as the economy.
The awareness of the importance of international supply chains has grown in recent years, not just among the business fraternity, but more widely in the media, among politicians and ordinary citizens as well.
Supply chain risks are exploding. Just look at the news, and you'll see a potential UPS strike, a Canadian port strike, potential hurricanes (Hawaii, Florida), China stirring up potential conflict with China, the Crimean bridge attack, and much more.
On a recent trip to Europe, I was fortunate to combine work with pleasure. Finland is diverse from Helsinki to the arctic circle, and we were thrilled to gain picturesque views of the northern lights. I was surprised there are multiple cruise ships that go from Helsinki to Estonia each day because the people and countries are interconnected.
As has been all over the news, the Chinese sent a spy balloon which floated across the U.S. for about a week. According to US senior military officials, it is confirmed that the balloon is tied to a major surveillance program run by China's military. It has politicians and citizens up-in-arms about the potential impacts, and it bolsters concerns about China.
Manufacturers are experiencing continued inflationary pressures threatening customer service and profit margins with record-breaking price increases and lack of material availability. To add fuel to the fire, they are also starting to worry about preparing for a potential recession.
The successful companies will not only strive to be the strongest link in your supply chain, but they will ensure that the weakest link doesn't send their customers to the competition. You have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure your position as a market leader and thrive for years to come, if you choose to take advantage of the opportunity and start to act NOW.
Shanghai has been locked down for around 6 weeks already. It is resulting in a significant bottleneck of container ships sitting outside Shanghai.
