Chain Reaction Podcast What’s New In 22?

What’s New In 22?

In this episode Tony Hines sets out his supply chain predictions for 2022.

 What will the supply chain landscape look like in 2022? What will you do in 22 that will make things better for you and your organization? Digital Transformation is top of my list if you are not already there yet.

 Returns are a big problem for retailers online and in store. We take a look at the problem of returns. The growth in E-commerce in 2020 was about 44 per cent and online sales overall climbed to over 21.3 per cent compared to 19 per cent in 2019. Returns are in the region of 25-40 per cent. So what can be done to manage the reverse logistics in supply chains and reduce their impact on profitability? Solutions include return kiosks, specific drop-off points and carrier returns 90 per cent of consumers prefer to return to stores and 70 per cent repurchase. Checking returns and refurbishing if necessary is essential to get goods to a resalable state.

 Brexit raises its head yet again with post Brexit controls with more checks likely in 2022. This has potential for even more disruption than in 2021. New rules, regulations mean more bureaucracy, cost and friction for exports and imports. Smaller firms will likely get caught out. The EU has agreed a deal for steel with the US meaning zero tariffs between the two. Meanwhile the UK does not have a deal and this will likely make UK steel 25 per cent more expensive. This is an early test of the UK Government’s ability to negotiate equivalent or as they are prone to say ‘world-beating deals’. It will be damaging to the UK steel industry if they cannot strike an equivalent deal.

 Zero emissions by 2050 but the UK claims it will be the first country to achieve a reduction for HGV’s less than 26 tonnes by 2035. Listen to the details. Tesco the largest UK supermarket is introducing HGV’s in January 2022.

 There will be continuing shortages in many categories of goods in 2022. Covid 19 is still a major disruption. We can expect delays and factory closures as a result of the pandemic. There are also geopolitical problems between the EU, Russia and the US along with the China and US outstanding issues. We need to begin to resolve differences with the aim of working together co-operatively for the benefit of everyone.

 Fifteen years ago Amazon Prime made headline news offering overnight deliveries. Today the Amazon Innovation has extended to other companies employing digital technologies. Listen to find out more.

 Listen to why Trust is necessary in supply chains.

 Three things that will create advantage in 22 are an ability to mitigate risk managing three things: 1 Volatility, 2 Visibility and 3 Virtuality. You need to develop strategies that will achieve these aims.