Future-proofing supply chains

Abstract

Due to the rapidly changing environment and the changing customer behaviour, companies will have to rethink the way they deliver their products and services. Most companies are still operating a supply chain that was designed in times of cheap oil, before any trace of e-commerce. These supply chains now run up against their limits and they will definitely not stand the upcoming challenges of tomorrow, the biggest of which are probably societal and environmental. Twenty challenges are identified and their impact on supply chains is described. In order to be successful in a rapidly changing environment, companies have a strong interest to make their supply chains future-proof at all times. A future-proofing diagnosis is developed to assess the supply chain of a company and to evaluate the gap with the upcoming societal, consumer and logistics challenges. Companies who are future-proofing their supply chain will identify and seize much faster the supply chain opportunities to create a competitive advantage.