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Navigating the New Normal SUPPLY CHAIN INSIGHTS DISRUPTION FEATURE
Shipping constraints, labour shortages, and stock availability have dominated the supply chain conversation for the past two years. But are we about to turn a corner? While we might be getting sick of the term “supply chain disruption”, as we head into the second quarter of 2022 and with one of the most challenging peak periods in history behind us, businesses are still grappling with many issues caused by the onset of the pandemic. Shipping constraints, labour shortages and stock availability issues have become the norm, and many organisations have made the dramatic shift from a just-in-time strategy to a just-in-case mindset. At the consumer level, most of us have gotten used to not being able to secure our favourite goods in the weekly grocery shop, and at a global level, the longstanding semiconductor shortage is still crippling the automotive and technology manufacturing industry. Leading up to Christmas, there was large-scale anxiety around shortages of festive consumer goods, as the supply chain industry was once again thrust into the spotlight.
SUPPLY CHAIN INSIGHTS
While supply chain disruption continues to dominate the mainstream media – two years on, the question now is: what do the next 12 months look like and will we ever see a return to pre-pandemic days? Supply Chain Insights takes a deep dive into the disruption and asks leaders from across the industry what challenges we’re likely to face in the year ahead.
The big inventory issue According to Travis Erridge, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at TMX, Asia-Pacific’s leading business transformation consultancy, businesses are still holding a huge amount of inventory. “We’re seeing massive amounts of inventory kept in storage. Australia is at maximum capacity, and most businesses are carrying a lot more product than they normally would,” he tells Supply Chain Insights.
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