A Supply Chain (SC) visibility firm, in alliance with Food Shippers of America, ran a survey across global SC professionals in the Food and Beverage (F&B) industry to determine the impact of the ongoing economic, geopolitical and SC disruptions.
They ask them to outline the challenges they are currently coping with and to describe how real-time visibility technology can relieve those tensions.
This survey highlights how these challenges will continue to impact the market in 2023 and beyond. The results contain actionable steps Food shippers can take their Food and Beverage SCs throughout the industrial process to build SC resilience by proactively managing out-of-stock goods to improve customer satisfaction.
SC challenges Food shippers to face labour capacity, talent management, transportation capacity issues, and supply and demand planning disruptions. These industries have been more affected than others due to goods and material shortages and goods in high demand year-round.
Businesses that successfully found the way out of SC disruptions are companies that have rested heavily on technology and collaboration to identify and address issues before they escalate into escalate to more complex-striking events.
Size matters
Companies with the highest sales found difficulties with supply and demand planning, product availability and warehousing; others not so big mention they would likely have issues with transportations and store operations tariffs as their most critical challenges.
Shippers pointed to COVID-19 pandemic impacts mainly on labour, over-the-road capacity restraints, port delays causing a bottleneck, and changes in buying patterns, consumer behaviour or buying patterns have all disrupted operations and generated or worsened today’s challenges.
Since the pandemic began, more than 30% of respondents mentioned a decrease in customer loyalty, and others saw a drop in sales caused by product shortage. Moreover, more than 65% of leaders indicated losses. The financial impact was more severe among enterprises than in other sectors.
A substantial number of companies mentioned they are concerned or very concerned that increasing inflation and geopolitical ambiguity will negatively impact sales during the first quarter of 2023. Shipping volumes are going down yearly, as did delivery delays.
Staying ahead
As a leader is persisting in investing in technology to support corporations with assets, drivers’ utility and fuel management, SC technology and automation were general topics among respondents.
What did we learn from past years of the pandemic?
We learned that disruption will endure and that we must enhance visibility throughout our Supply Chain towards helping clients improve SC management efficiency, real-time comprehension, strategic sourcing program, food safety and quality.
Organization executives keep relying on some Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) for end-to-end SC visibility, which saw a 25% growth in the total of F&B shipper customers and shipments tracked last year. The total number of F&B shipments followed by FourKites increased nearly 50% over the same period. Over the same period, these corporations serve multiple well-recognized brands, such as Coca-Cola Consolidated, Organic Valley, Constellation Brands, Nestlé, General Mills, and many others.
Together, the NGOs solve the many constrain customers are currently facing. They are known for achieving the highest vision of businesses’ complex requirements. They are advocates of top Food Chain edge-technology that benefits Food and Beverage Supply Chain Management, Food Transportation, Logistics, and distribution according to Food Chain parameters. Furthermore, they are leaders in Real-time Transportation Visibility Platforms.
How do you solve Supply Chain disruptions?
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