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supply chain management

The effects of social issues on the supply chain

31 August 2021
Categories: General, Supply Chain

While consumers might not consider it when doing a grocery run, there are many processes that go into delivering value to consumers. In 2021, the supply chains that service consumer markets involve many players and often span more than one country – if not more than one continent. The purpose of Supply Chain Management (SCM) is to improve the profitability of businesses by streamlining these processes. The supply chain has many aspects that need attention, not just the economic, technical and legal ones. The biggest of these is the growing ethical and social interest from consumers about how…

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Logistics and Supply Chain Management when unrest hits South Africa

2 August 2021
Categories: COVID-19 / Coronavirus / Lockdown, General, Supply Chain

The recent unrest in South Africa and particularly in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng demonstrates how fragile the local, national and international supply chain and pipelines are. After experiencing the continued onslaught of COVID-19, the latest and almost unabated riots, pillage and attacks on people and property have created even greater impacts on general life in South Africa as well as critical shortages of food, medication, vaccines, fuel and other vitals in many suburbs in KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng. It goes without saying that political undercurrents can cause disruptions in sourcing, manufacturing and transportation in a supply chain, denying people of…

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Supply Chain Management trends in 2021 to take us to infinity and beyond

3 March 2021
Categories: General, Marketing, Supply Chain

The number one factor to impact, well anything, in 2020 was of course COVID-19. Supply chains were not spared. International trade ground to a halt with the volume of Global trade in May of last year down by 17.7% compared to the same month in 2019, economies crumbled and global GDP for 2020 contracted by an estimated 4.3% and Supply Chain Managers were throwing their demand forecasts out the window. The global pandemic has both battered the supply chain industry and at the same time brought to the fore how vital it…

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The relationship between, and the importance of, a Value Chain; a Supply Chain and Supply Chain Management.

22 June 2020
Categories: COVID-19 / Coronavirus / Lockdown, General, Supply Chain

By Dr Myles Wakeham and Annie Beckerling The recent outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of Supply Chain Management (SCM), as a sudden increase in demand for certain products and a complete standstill in demand for others has left many suppliers reeling. However the man in the street can still find it difficult to distinguishing the features that contrast a value chain, a supply chain and finally supply chain management (SCM).. Although there is a strong relation amongst these three activities, there are key differences that make them stand apart from one another.

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Coronavirus and the end of the global supply chain

28 April 2020
Categories: COVID-19 / Coronavirus / Lockdown, Export Management, Supply Chain

Coffee illustrates how complex supply chains have become ©MAURO PIMENTEL/AFP/Getty Images Posted by Paul Simpson Coronavirus has shown how fragile our cost-driven, just-in-time processes really are. With practitioners adapting to survive while planning more resilient systems for the future, will procurement ever be the same? When the first container ship arriving from China at the port of Vancouver was cancelled in January this year, it didn’t seem particularly significant. By mid-March, when China’s struggle with Covid-19, aka coronavirus, had become so all-consuming that 30 more journeys had been cancelled, Vancouver’s port officials were facing a crisis of historic magnitude.

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Supply chains have been changed, possibly forever

20 April 2020
Categories: COVID-19 / Coronavirus / Lockdown, Newsletters

The competition is no longer between brands or even between companies; it is between supply chains (networks). Supply chains in the time of coronavirus have changed, possibly forever. MARZIA STORPIOLI reports. Supply chain management has been likened to a philosophy, a concept rather than an essential service. Historically, companies relied on strong brands and good products to win over the consumer. Competitive advantage was gained by the organisation based on the strength of its brands and its reputation for quality products. But as the COVID-19 pandemic continues its inexorable march across the globe, supply chain management is no longer…

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