Does the supply chain need saving?

Hello, and welcome to this week’s edition of Straight Talk. Inside, we discuss:

• Securing the supply chain
• Voting matters
• Port strike impacts
• Holiday rate hikes

But, before we get into these stories, let me take a minute to ask you to consider attending our NextGen Supply Chain Conference, Oct. 21-23, in Chicago.

In addition to the keynote speakers listed below, we will have presentations from Walmart, Schneider Electric, Estée Lauder, Corning, U.S. Cellular, Agility Robotics, Carhartt and UPS Healthcare among others. I’m excited about a couple of panels, including a Women of Supply Chain panel, that will be held, and of course, we have awards: End Users, Solution Providers, Start-Ups and the Visionary Award. Check out our full agenda, a full list of speakers, and information on registration (and sponsorships if you are so inclined!) on our website here.

Can the supply chain be saved?

Back in late 2023, in response to global panic about the state of the supply chain, President Joe Biden announced the formation of the White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience. “We’re doubling down on our work at home—starting right here, right now — with the launch of a new Council on Supply Chain Resilience,” Biden said.

That council won’t turn in its first official report until later this year, and while the myriad of crises that triggered the administration’s action has mostly subsided, the risks are still there. Disruptions such as the recent Microsoft-Crowdstrike computer outage, a pending East Coast longshoreman’s port strike, and trade wars to name a few, continue unabated.

Now, another group has formed, promising it can secure the supply chain. The Supply Chain Council was announced on July 26. Led by CEO Josh Wood, the organization is promising to “secure and strengthen America’s supply chain.” In an interview with SCMR sister publication Logistics Management, Wood said policymakers are responding to the challenges with regulations that “weaken the supply chain and create instability and greater unpredictability for businesses, workers and anyone who depends on the goods and services moving through our ports, airports, railways and logistics centers.”

Too good to be true?

Sounds good, right? Hopefully it will be. The group has a cross-section of industry leaders from companies such as Prologis, Johnson Controls, and Sierra Northern Rail Company. Labor unions such as the Laborers’ International Union of North America, and trade associations like the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association. Wood said the group is “bringing the links of the supply chain together.”

Wood went on to tell LM the group’s first goal is to protect American jobs. Investment in supply chain infrastructure and safeguarding the supply chain and economy from global instability are also goals. “Our goal is to unite voices and interest groups and present what is a clear win, strengthening the U.S. supply chain, to those in power who are able to legislate on its behalf,” Wood said.

In many ways, both the Supply Chain Council and the White House Council Supply Chain Resilience are working toward the same goals. The question is whether either is going to be able to achieve its goals.

What’s missing?

While both are working toward supporting American jobs and securing the nation’s supply chain, there are some areas to wonder how it all fits together. At the time the White House initiative was launched, supply chain consultant Ben Gordon, founder and managing partner of Cambridge Capital, told Logistics Management there was a key element missing from the effort. “I speak regularly with a lot of the top supply chain CEOs and professionals. None of them has been consulted for this Biden supply chain initiative,” he said. “If I were advising the administration, I would encourage them to speak with supply chain CEOs from across warehousing, freight forwarding, truck brokerage, distribution, and technology. What I think the administration would learn is that we are far from successful when it comes to U.S. supply chains. Our weaknesses include tremendous volatility, which is reflected in the record number of bankruptcies in trucking and freight brokerage this year. They also include extremely high dependence on markets that are often not aligned with the U.S., including Chinese rare earths, Mideast oil, and others. Our supply chains suffer from data fragmentation that prevents decision-makers from making holistic decisions based on the most relevant inputs. Lastly, we are increasingly lagging when it comes to investing in crucial supply chain technology. I hope the Biden administration is consulting other supply chain industry sources so they can incorporate much-needed improvements in the plan to strengthen American competitiveness.”

Can the Supply Chain Council solve this?

In one regard, the new Supply Chain Council will address this concern. The new effort includes business leaders, union leaders and associations. But, each of those groups has their own agendas. Business leaders will want to ensure profitability. Union leaders will want to maximize earning potential for members, and associations will be balancing their members’ own concerns.

While the security of the supply chain should be a common theme, I was struck by Wood’s comment that the first priority is to protect American jobs. I’m always in favor of American workers but securing a supply chain requires more than just American workers and jobs. It takes a holistic approach to ensure continuity of supply and demand. There are data security issues to address. There is nearshoring/reshoring, ethical sourcing, regulatory concerns, government incentives and many more issues that influence the supply chain network. And, remember, some disruptions are inevitable, no matter how much proactive planning is done.

Pulling legislators, industry groups, and workers in one direction is a tall task. Getting two of those groups to align is challenging enough. Whether the Supply Chain Council is able to do that—and whether it can be a blueprint for similar collaborations in the future—will be a lesson in real time. I know I will be watching to see if Wood and the leaders of the movement can pull it off.

Election comes into focus

Our sister publication Supply Chain 247 had a fascinating Q&A with Alex Sari, CMO at Ivalua, on the upcoming November election. Without diving into a “whose-side-are-you-on” debate, Saric did weigh in on how the upcoming elections, both at the national and local levels, could impact the supply chain decisions being made today. “No matter which administration takes the reigns in 2025, there will be significant implications for global supply chains, which is why it’s mission-critical for procurement leaders to put the presidential election higher on their risk radars,” he said, adding that “the most strategic organizations are proactively preparing comprehensive, adaptable contingency plans that can be quickly adjusted as conditions and circumstances shift.” There could be significant differences for businesses between a Harris administration and a Trump administration, but Saric’s main point is don’t wait. “It’s going to be a dynamic environment, so anyone dependent on global supply chains needs to create proactive roadmaps for navigating the risks.”

NextGen Supply Chain Conference speakers revealed

We unveiled our NextGen Supply Chain Conference agenda and speaker lineup in August. You can see it here: https://www.nextgensupplychainconference.com/agenda/

The highlights: Keynotes from Amy Rardin at Procter & Gamble, Luis Roman of Johnson & Johnson, and Jennifer Springer of Whirlpool Corporation. In addition, Karisa Sprague of Walmart will present as part of our Visionary Award. We will be handing out End User Awards to Estée Lauder, Schneider Electric, and S&S Activewear, and Solution Provider Awards to Agility Robotics, Westfalia, AutoScheduler and Waites Sensor Technologies. The Start-up Award will go to Squint. Each of these companies will also be presenting at the conference.

Our speaker lineup includes executives from Carhartt, UPS Healthcare, U.S. Cellular, Diageo, Hai Robotics and Corning to name just a few. You can find a full rundown of our agenda and speakers here: https://www.scmr.com/article/keynotes-from-procter-gamble-johnson-johnson-whirlpool-execs-highlight-nextgen-conference-agenda

We’d love for you to join us for NextGen, taking place Oct. 21-23, 2024, at the Chicago Athletic Association hotel. You can register for this year’s event here: https://ngsc.regfox.com/nextgen-supply-chain-conference-2024

What I read this week

Third-party logistics providers often compete on price, but MonarKonnect is trying to change that. … U.S. firms are feeling more positive about their supply chains in years … Gartner has found that 73% of companies that have made changes to their supply chains have done so to improve resiliency. … Krishna Kuppuswamy,?SVP, global head of supply chain, and chief solution architect at?Tredence, decided to return to college after 25 years away. Here’s why. … Vista Equity Partners has acquired procurement software provider JAGGAER. … What impact might an East Coast port strike have? S&P’s Paul Bingham explains. … Amazon and UPS have announced rate hikes for the 2024 holiday season.

Thank you for reading,

Brian