The past couple of years has been full of disruptions and changes, from global pandemics to geopolitical uncertainties and natural disasters, having an impact on the logistics world noticeable for most industries and consumers.
High inflation across Latin American countries has impacted consumer purchasing power, which has significantly impacted some businesses, which has led to high levels of inventory and the need to find alternative channels, markets, and ways of doing business.
Global disruptions have accelerated the need to seek alternative sourcing options and other ways to move the products around to keep your business running and optimized.
All these challenges have accelerated the need to build resilience around the supply chain for any business. With the ever-changing business environment, the ability to bounce back quickly with flexibility and full-time visibility has been a game changer.
Where do supply chain and resilience meet?
The importance of resilience in logistics has become increasingly evident as a game changer in maintaining the smooth flow of the supply chain. In the face of disruptions, organizations have recognized the need to establish strong foundations that facilitate resilience and minimize the impact. We have found some key elements to build resilient logistics to ensure continuity and adaptability in disruption, uncertainties, and normalization phases.
Nowadays, having the agility and flexibility to modify and adapt your supply chain operations to respond to changing situations is crucial. They both work in harmony with actionability to maximize the flow. Together, they ensure the capacity to modify inputs, switch routes, combine transportation methods, and fully optimize the resilience of your business, allowing you to respond to disruption and minimize the impact. Selecting a logistics partner capable of providing access to a diverse array of transport, models, services, expertise in logistics, and technological and physical infrastructure to merge the different modalities when needed is essential to approach and enhance flexibility and agility.
Visibility also provides resilience in logistics, having the ability to show the entire supply chain in real-time so you can identify any impact. Having information on the whole picture allows us to make adjustments when needed, increase insights, and even strengthen demand planning and forecasting.
Joining forces with all the members of your supply chain has become a trend, and that is how collaboration supports actionability by working together towards keeping the supply chain flowing. Cultivating support between suppliers, partners, and stakeholders is essential to make valuable information for all parties. The collaboration will allow your business to manage risk more effectively and provide information to keep the supply chain flowing and diminish the chance of having an impact on your business.
The normalization came with a focus on shifting from efficiency to resilience, pushing the supply chain to be more agile, flexible, collaborative, and network-focused. Prioritizing supply chain resilience will not eliminate disruptions. Still, it will help you diminish the impact on your business and the stakeholders you have partnered up with for a continuous supply chain.
Incorporating resilience in 2023 supply chains
Resilience in the supply chain is the ability to partner up with a logistic integrator that can help your supply chain flow by having complete visibility and agility to make changes from one moment to the other to avoid or lessen disruptions and their impact on your supply chain. A logistic integrator is a partner that provides logistic solutions with alternatives for transportation, warehousing, inventory, and customs. Having a logistic integrator as a partner to impulse resilience involves leveraging the expertise but also the capabilities of the supply chain ecosystem.
By using advanced technology, optimizing processes, and working together, a logistic integrator can give you visibility, flexibility, and the ability to facilitate the coordination of the different stakeholders of the supply chain and maintain the operation flowing.
About Ricardo Rocha
Ricardo is the Regional Senior Director of Logistics and Services for Latin America and the Caribbean. In this capacity, he is a member of the Latin America A.P. Moller Maersk Management Executive Leadership Team.
Ricardo started his career in 1995 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, working in the supply chain, finance, operations, and sales. For more than 15 years, he has held different leadership positions and managed directions for logistics organizations in South America.
Born in 1975 and holds a bachelor´s degree from his native country Brazil, in Business Administration with an emphasis in Sales & Marketing, complemented by an Executive MBA in Logistics and Supply Chain Management at FGV (Fundação Getulio Vargas), Leadership for Global Business and Politics studies at Yale School of Management, Executive Leadership Program at Cranfield School of Management, Inspiring Maersk Executive Program at IMD.
Since the beginning of 2021, Ricardo is based in Panama and is responsible for all A.P Moller Maersk Logistic activities in Latin America and the Caribbean.
About Maersk
A.P. Moller - Maersk is an integrated logistics company working to connect and simplify its customers’ supply chains. Maersk was founded in 1904 and has its headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. Maersk, a global leader in logistics services, such as landside transportation, warehousing, distribution, air transportation, and ocean transportation, amongst many others, the company operates in more than 130 countries and employs over 110,000 people worldwide. Maersk aims to reach net zero emissions by 2040 across the entire business with new technologies, vessels, and green fuels.
