Concern on sustainability

Consumer awareness and concern about importance of sustainability will put pressure on organisations to take more responsibility of their emissions and carbon footprint. Supply chain leaders will start investing time and resources to convert sustainability from a reputation risk issue to a source of competitive advantage.

Talent pool

The future of the procurement and supply chain marketplace will hold critical shortages of skilled professionals as experienced staff retire and demand to fill their roles increases. As employers will need more specialised and targeted recruitment to find qualified workers with the appropriate skills and experience, talent exchanges and contractual workforce will become the order of the future.

Evolve to survive

With the realisation that VUCA cannot be avoided, resisted or managed, supply chain leaders will need to embrace it and design their supply chain strategies and operating models to survive and perform in the future world. In such a world, the idea that companies can define a supply chain strategy as responsive, efficient, resilient, lean will be grossly inadequate. At the same time, an objective of optimising their supply chains once and for all circumstances and customer segments is a fantasy.

Application of the theory of evolution suggests four approaches along which supply chains have evolved in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Creating the future supply chain requires will require the ability to spot trends, get a fresh perspective from leaders across other disciplines, be flexible and rapidly transform the supply chain network.

The author is Associate Director, KPMG in India

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