While most supply chain leaders are still in the reactive phase of how to deal with this pandemic, many are already at a conclusion that the balance between the levels of risk an enterprise can tolerate and the amount of operational flexibility it wants to achieve is purely dependent on scenario planning, which is starting to emerge amongst organisations as they continue to move towards intelligent, self-correcting supply chains. Mohan S A, CEO & Director, Armes Maini Storage Systems in a one-to-one interaction with Upamanyu Borah, explains how decisive actions - particularly in escalating situations - and rapid scenario planning can unlock hidden insights that augment the supply chain planner’s abilities to quickly determine options and take action.
Mohan S a
The ‘one size fits all’ theory is not going to work anymore
H
ow may we best summarise the current state? What is the short to medium-term outlook for the material handling and storage solutions market? Current state is unprecedented and uncertain. No one has clarity on how the future will pan out. There is a lot of speculation, intelligent assessments; inferences being discussed in every company, industry associations, and through subject-based webinars, etc. The material handling and storage solutions market is no exception to the current scenario. The business outlook, at this point of time, looks extremely 44 |
July 2020
gloomy. There is no clue of how the postCOVID-19 scenario will look like. Earlier, the influencers of the sector were different, such as GST and the consolidation that it brought along, which helped meet the demand for new warehouses or storage racking systems. Now it seems the demand drivers would be very different. We don’t know when and where new warehouses would come up since many construction works are still on halt. We don’t know whether the companies who have signed contracts will continue or renegotiate those. In June as well as in some parts of July, we are looking at a high demand, but that might be because of the pent up
demand. The industry has to sustain for three to six more months and then we probably might see the businesses coming back to normal. However, one thing is pretty much well understood that in the calendar year 2020, nothing much is likely to happen. For the investment cycle to begin in any company, it will take time. And even after that, companies will still critically decide on whether they should consolidate or just keep utilising whatever they have at their end, or if not, cost-efficient alternatives.
With uncertainty rife, and COVID-19 holding the potential to impact
In the post-COVID-19 period, the global supply chain is expected to be redefined. This will create a new and different set of opportunities.
