Supply Chain Speed Bumps
If you’re struggling to stay on top of your global supply chain, you’re not alone.
A recent survey showed that 91% of businesses can’t stay ahead of their supply chain complexity.
“The supply chain plays a critical role in an increasingly digital economy, however a growing number of businesses can’t keep up with supply chain challenges,” according to a report from Koerber, a German company that supplies fully integrated and digitised processes, including both the software and automation solutions.
The company polled 1,200 supply chain professionals to see how they were coping with more challenging market conditions, as well how they are transitioning from manual to automated processes.
They found that there are four key ‘pain points’ that supply chain professionals had in common.
4 Supply Chain ‘Pain Points’
- 91% Staying ahead of supply chain complexity
- 48% Supply chain has gotten more complex in the last year.
- 51% Only able to tackle one supply chain complexity at a time.
- 48% Challenges with integrating their end-to-end supply chains.
The need to diversifying supply chains into more locations to avoid country risk has added one more complication to systems that were already struggling to become more agile and reduce lead times.
Tracking Supply Chain Shifts
EXPORTS
Vietnam Sees Slow Recovery
Vietnam’s total textile and garment exports fell 10.3% year-on-year to around $22.1 billion for the first nine months of the year, according to the General Statistics Office.
- The garment and textile sector is among the sectors hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with tourism and aviation.
- Manufacturers said they were receiving orders only on a monthly or weekly basis due to weak demand and uncertainty in export markets.
Bangladesh Rebounds
Bangladesh reported that earnings from merchandise exports grew by 3.53 percent year-on-year to reach $3.01 billion in September, according to data released by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) .
- Apparel shipments grew by 0.85 percent year-on-year to $8.12 billion between July and September, which is 2.09 percent higher than the $7.96 billion target.
LOGISTICS
Another Week of High, but Stable, Ocean Rates
Exporters have gotten some relief from months of rocketing freight rates. China-US ocean rates went unchanged for the third straight week, but they’re at nearly 200% over last year’s prices.
- The record levels of available capacity over Golden Week and regulatory pressure likely contributing to the plateau in ocean rates.
- Strong volumes are expected through October and may even extend into next year, if retail pre-orders for spring shipments are an indication.
- E-commerce continues to drive demand, including from many SMB/SME importers.
- Small to medium sized business, who have been shipping have been shipping a record number of orders since April, are now expecting more expensive and less reliable peak season fulfillment to their customers.
PRODUCT INNOVATION
New Stay Warm Material
Columbia Sportswear (USA) has just launched its new Omni-Heat Black Dot technology, an external thermal shield built to protect from the cold.
- The new textile acts as a heat magnet, featuring thousands of multilayered black dots that capture solar heat and trap warmth to keep people warmer.
PODCAST
How Better Quality Leads to Greater Sustainability
David Horlock is managing director of Global Food and Retail Supply Chain at the British Standards Institute.
He’s spent 30 years working with companies on Organizational Resilience and Supply Chain Compliance across a wide range of industries.
During that time he’s worked with global brands on quality, process and supply chain behaviour issues to help them comply with regulatory, performance and modern-day consumer requirements.
Here’s his take on how manufacturers and brands can incorporate sustainability into their total quality equation.
Click here to listen to this episode.
CURRENCIES
The Turkish lire dropped to a record low against the dollar, following more than two years of consistent depreciation of the Turkish currency.
- Tensions with the U.S. and the threat of sanctions have contributed to the lira’s plunge.
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