Global Value Chain Predictions Article

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The supply chain management has increasingly become a crucial part of the business strategies used by organizations today. Businesses have found the need to use effective and efficient supply chains to enhance their market share. An effective supply chain is highly crucial in enhancing strong customer relationships hence strengthening the brand loyalty. With consumers’ expectations growing each day, supply chain managers have a task of ensuring that consumers’ needs are fully and timely met. They have to consider the best ways of meeting the changing customer needs. For example, in the past years, consumers were more willing to wait for deliveries for close to or more than a week’s time. However, that has changed and consumers would prefer to receive their deliveries on the same day. Changes in consumer demands, coupled with several other factors in the business environment have been a key to the several trends observed in the global supply chain. The trends in the supply chain in the next five years would largely be shaped by the changing consumer experiences as well as the rapid growth of e-commerce. (Christopher, 2016).
One of the most likely supply chain trends in the next five years is the digitization of the supply chain. With the latest advancements in technology and communication, there is an increased need to incorporate the latest technology solutions to enhance the efficiency of the supply chain. Supply chain managers must consider redesigning the existing logistic practices in order to align them with the rapidly changing and highly competitive business environment.

Digitization of supply chain would improve customer responsiveness thus increasing businesses’ market valuation as it would improve the dynamics and speed of the operations within the supply chain. With high customer responsiveness, digital supply chains would likely increase business revenue, while also increasing the efficiency in dealings with suppliers. (Arora, Haleem, & Farooquie, 2018).
Another likely trend in the supply chain is the enhancement of visibility and collaboration in the supply chain. In this era of technology, there is a change in the business landscape with globalization gaining momentum. Globalization has increased the need for collaboration in the supply chain. It is crucial for businesses to maintain strong collaborations with suppliers in order to streamline the procurement processes. This calls for increased visibility in the supply chain. Supply chain managers would need to properly analyze the supply chain data for strong decision-making and accurate business forecasting. It is critical to have streamlined internal processes, especially for the global businesses. Collaboration and visibility in the supply chain would benefit businesses as it would optimize the use of resources in different points of the supply chain. (Christopher, 2016).
Customer segmentation is yet another likely future trend in the supply chain. With the increasing competition, businesses have found the need to understand the needs and preferences of customers. One way of effectively addressing the needs of the customers is by setting customer segments based on preferences and factors that trigger each customer segment’s purchasing. In a bid to fulfill their customers’ needs, it is likely that businesses will adopt micro-segmentation of customers as opposed to the broad generalization of customers. Supply chain managers will have the responsibility of ensuring supply chain strategies are aligned with the specific product and to the specific customer segments. Customer segmentation is highly beneficial to the business as it ensures effective adjustment to the prevailing market situations. Through customer segmentation, businesses can promptly respond the customers’ needs through processes in the supply chain such as freight forwarding, warehousing or customs brokerage. It would also increase accountability in procurement practices. (Turban, Outland, King, Lee, Liang, & Turban, 2018).
References
Arora, R., Haleem, A., & Farooquie, A. J. (2018). Information Technology Enabled Supply Chain: A Systematic Literature Review. IJAME.
Christopher, M. (2016). Logistics & supply chain management. Pearson UK.
Turban, E., Outland, J., King, D., Lee, J. K., Liang, T. P., & Turban, D. C. (2018). Order Fulfillment Along the Supply Chain in e-Commerce. In Electronic Commerce 2018 (pp. 501-534). Springer, Cham.