SupplyChainBrain has long welcomed contributed articles by industry thought leaders on a wide range of topics and issues relating to supply chain management. (You’ll find them all in our “ThinkTank” section on SupplyChainBrain.com, as well as selected pieces within these printed pages.) In writing about the state of supply chain today, many of our contributors feel the need to lead off with a litany of the crises and disruptions that have plagued shippers, carriers and service providers in recent years: pandemic, war, tariffs, rising costs, climate change, infrastructure failures, geopolitical turbulence and the like.
Most of the time we delete those lines, on the assumption that our audience of seasoned supply chain professionals knows all too well what they’ve been going through in the early decades of the turbulent 21st century. (I hesitated even to mention them here.) It’s all self-evident, we reason. Let’s cut to the chase — assume we know well what we’ve faced in the past, and focus on how we’re going to confront the future.
Equally self-evident — although I’ve nevertheless harped on it each year that I’ve introduced this special issue that you’re reading now — is the importance of partnerships in forging global supply chains. In fact, the very term “supply chain management,” coined some 44 years ago by business consultant Keith Oliver, assumes by definition a network of multiple independent entities, whose ability to function together in harmony serves as the differentiator between success and failure.
So, nothing new there. Why mention it now, for the umpteenth time? I’d say it’s because of the need to remind ourselves of the interdependence of global commerce, at a time when national alliances are fracturing and outcomes are so uncertain, is greater than ever. Certain industry observers never tire of informing us that the metaphor of a supply “chain” is inapt — we’re really talking about is a non-linear “constellation” of partners and services. Call it what you like, but never forget that the whole thing operates as a single entity, or not at all.
This vast universe of cooperation, however, is built up from a series of one-to-one relationships. And that’s the dynamic that we seek to highlight in our annual issue on the theme of 100 Great Supply Chain Partners. What sets our list apart, we believe, is that it’s compiled not by the vendors who make it up, but by satisfied customers who nominate them for inclusion. Here, you’ll find real-world testimonies about how companies are weathering the many crises that constantly threaten the ability of products to reach markets.
Self-evident? For sure. But sometimes the answer to survival in a turbulent world is hiding in plain sight.
Are you a shipper who has a great relationship with a supply chain products or services provider? Consider nominating them for next year’s list!
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