01.25.08
Very intriguing views on what 2008 holds for Supply Chain
The folks over at Supply Chain Digest have put together a collection of thoughts from industry and academia about what is going on in 2008. Often collections like this are nothing but aphorisms, but this one is different. Among the gems:
- Jeff Karrenbauer of Insight, Inc — “the obvious outsourcing choice of , for example, the Pacific Basin, is often simply wrong”
- Jon Kirkegard of DCRA, Inc — “Postponed manufacturing state-side of imported key components will increasingly be seen as a major solution to supply chain and business challenges….”
- Larry Lapide of MIT — “Many companies will ’slow down’ their supply chains by using less expensive and slower transit modes”
While there are some areas of agreement, there are far more areas of disagreement about outcomes and effects — which is why I like this article.
For my part, what I find most interesting is the looming impact of fuel and energy costs (combined with changes in currency valuation). If companies respond — as I hope they will — with much more aggressive leveraging of logistics information and a “postponed manufacturing strategy”, our payback for this more challenging period could be improved productivity, and progress in the quest for a demand-driven supply chain.
justindz said,
January 25, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I was just reading that article via Technorati before I caught your post in my feed reader. The speculation on shifts in geographic focus and diversification of transportation methods including adding more rail are interesting.
I recently heard a radio ad that’s just started popping up for one of the rail lines making the claim that they can move a ton of cargo something like 450+ miles on a gallon of gas. Clearly, that message anticipates interest related to rising fuel costs and the impact on moving physical products.