Flexible, agile, responsive…these and other such words have become increasingly commonplace, but since a couple of years ago – thanks in part to the likes of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson – there really is no getting away from them. Whether in relation to the trade war between China and the USA or the impending Brexit, you constantly have to be able to adapt to ever-changing and increasingly demanding markets.
Would it be better to open a new distribution centre in the UK? Should I relocate my manufacturing activities to the USA? Do I have the right amount of capacity at my distribution centres? Which technologies should I use in which factory, and with which capacity? How can I improve the flexibility of my network, and what will it cost? These are all examples of questions that supply chain professionals should be frequently asking themselves nowadays. In addition to geopolitics, the globalization of supply and demand is also forcing us to adapt our networks, due to the ever-changing costs of labour, transport and raw materials, and fluctuations in suppliers’ costs.
You need to make ever-more complex decisions in increasingly rapid succession. That’s why it has become essential to be able to evaluate potential changes in your network quickly. Some important decisions need to be made which will ultimately affect almost 80% of your supply chain costs.
