Three quarters of organisations in the Asia Pacific region have highlighted labour shortages as the common cause of supply chain disruption in the past 12 months.
State of Flux’s Building Resilience 2022 Global Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) Research Report revealed 76% of respondents said a shortage of workers was delaying manufacturing or delivery of services.
Other findings include:
- 55% of organisations reported major challenges in forecasting and demand planning
- 60% of organisations increased engagement with suppliers, the most widely reported mitigating action that helps counter supply chain disruption.
“Yet most procurement and supply chain functions continue to suffer from a legacy of underinvestment,” the report said.
“Global supply chains have suffered unprecedented disruption since the emergence of Covid in early 2020 and the geopolitical and economic shocks that have followed.”
Each year for the last 14, State of Flux has conducted extensive research into Supplier Relationship Management The process takes over six months each year.
The report explores the topic of building resilience within your organisation and supply chain, supported by global research, interviews, and case studies from international organisations.
It uncovers that procurement and supply chain are at an all-time high on board’s agendas right now.
With a theme of resilience, the insights gained by 424 survey respondents representing 304 companies from across multiple continents, highlighted that the pandemic tested the robustness of plans and businesses’ ability to respond to change.
The threat most organisations are planning for is a cyber-attack, with 51% reporting that they had business continuity plans in place for such an event.
Opportunities in areas of resilience
The report says the key opportunities for procurement in the area of resilience are:
- Anticipate and plan for future disruptions.
- Increase resource and skill levels in supply chain risk management.
- Realign the supplier management value proposition to increase an emphasis on supply chain resilience and risk management.
- Realign category management and sourcing processes to balance cost with supply chain resilience and business continuity.
Case studies in the State of Flux Report include:
- SRM key to becoming Agile – Telstra’s radical 3-year transformation
- Putting energy into relationships – how Chevron aim to boost resilience and add value in supplier management
- Passionate about people’s resilience – the UK Ministry of Justice have improved social value through SRM
- One source of truth – Kellogg’s investment in people and SRM has ensured mutual benefits with suppliers.
