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Democratising the supply chain
Much has been written and discussed about the impact global supply chains are having on the cost of goods and services at the point of purchase. A topic we discussed on our recent podcast ‘the art of experiences’.
Traditional manufacturing suppliers are seeing increases in raw materials costs of up to 80%, rising costs of energy, rises in the cost of labour and dramatic increases in the cost of shipping manufactured goods around the world. Many see this as problematic however, I see only opportunity.
What the pandemic has taught is many things, not least to be agile, to challenge everything and look in places we may not have looked previously in order to deliver quality and value to our clients… and this has opened many new and exciting opportunities for businesses that are ready to be flexible and open to ‘the new’.
To contextualise ‘supply chain’, I consider this to be the supply of goods and services to a buyer. This not only means manufactured items, but also the supply of services like design, technology, architecture and more. It may sound obvious, but by using a tool we all have at our fingertips - the internet, we are instantly able to connect to talent across the globe. The old way of thinking - going to the same suppliers in the same markets is so old fashioned. What the democratisation of the supply chain has given buyers is the option to buy from anywhere - even, shock horror, to buy locally.
We are seeing this happening more and more in the manufacturing business (part of the service we are offering our clients), organisations like the one I work for are forging fantastic relationships with world-class talent in the local markets we serve, be it in India, Vietnam, UAE, parts of Africa or Saudi Arabia, we are now ‘looking local’ to serve our clients better. As governments are seeing the opportunities to build their ‘made in…’ local brand and manufacturing, there are significant benefits to clients, the most obvious being time to market and price. This thinking is not limited to manufacturing either. Our consulting business is truly global and, once again, one of the most exciting developments we have seen during this pandemic is that we are able to work with our talent across the globe using technology as a platform to bring talent together under one virtual roof. In fact, one client recently mentioned that in the old days, it would have been impossible to have so much talent in one place for their project, budgets would simply not permit them to fly consultants in from across the globe for one meeting. All change again…
Those of you who listen to our podcast and have read my blog will know that I am a big fan of the democratisation of talent - the freedom to access the very best talent from anywhere to work together as one team for the ultimate benefit of our clients. I strongly believe that this is the future. Albeit somewhat organic in nature, I have never met a buyer of goods or services who does not want the very best quality at the best price. Perhaps the days of the big multi-vertical organisation will be challenged by this emerging trend, time will see.
To listen to more of my thoughts on the supply chain, please listen to my podcast ‘the art of experiences’ that is available on all the usual channels including Apple, Google, Amazon and Spotify.
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