Posted On November 6, 2017

The leadership team here at Flat World Holdings has been in the supply chain and transportation management business for a while now.

(We don’t like to add up the combined years. Plus, our CEO keeps insisting he’s 29, so the math wouldn’t add up right.)

Being in the industry on a daily basis year after year gives us a certain perspective, and that perspective tells us that traditional supply chains and supply chain management tools aren’t enough to keep your company competitive. That perspective is reinforced by “Your Supply Chain is Dying,” a recent report from the accounting and consulting firm KPMG that focuses on the three ways supply chains are under pressure from changes in the economy, technology, and customer expectations. One of the changes discussed in KPMG’s report is the trend toward customers being closer to the supply chain.

“The supply chain will have a more direct relationship with the customer in the future,” said Sam Ganaga, a principal on KPMG’s supply chain and author of the report. You don’t have to be a logistics expert to see how supply chains are moving closer to customers. fact, the decline of the brick-and-mortar retail sector is basically just the elimination of one link in many companies’ supply chains. The changing nature of supply chains is also putting more pressure on the way company executives think about “speed to market.”

Based on an analysis of earnings calls, Bloomberg determined that “speed to market” mentions by C-Suite executives on earnings calls have skyrocketed. The first six months of 2017 had more than twice the “speed to market” mentions than occurred during all of 2016.

If it’s so important, how do you keep your supply chain from dying? Or, to quote Will Ferrell’s NASCAR-driving character, Ricky Bobby, when it comes to speed to market, how do you make sure you’re first and not last?

More than anything, you have to be innovative. There are good reasons why your shipping department currently operates the way it does, but those good reasons won’t keep you competitive in an era where your customers increasingly expect speed, efficiency, and visibility from every shipper they work with. While the KPMG report is titled “Your Supply Chain is Dying,” what it should say is that your supply chain is changing—rapidly—and companies that don’t adapt will die.

That’s too long for a report title, but it’s the truth. Thankfully, adapting your shipping department to thrive in today’s market—and increasing the speed, visibility, and efficiency of your supply chain—is something the Flat World Holdings family of companies can help you with. Our comprehensive set of solutions includes supply chain management services, innovative transportation management technology, and the industry’s premier freight forwarding and custom crating providers.

Even if it isn’t quite dying, your supply chain is changing. However, if you continue to approach logistics management like you always have, there is a chance that it may die, and with it your ability to be competitive in your market.We’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen.

And we look forward to working with you.