The session which took place on 20 January addressed the topic ‘Supply chain: recovery profiles shaping the future landscape’, attracting senior industry leaders from 11 GPCA member companies
On 20 January GPCA hosted its third Members Dialogue session on the topic ‘Supply chain: recovery profiles shaping the future landscape’. The session hosted 18 senior industry leaders from 11 member companies, who had the opportunity to exchange knowledge with one another and address some of the most critical supply chain challenges facing chemical producers in the region.
The session was organized in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) under the theme ‘Leading in the New Reality’. It was facilitated by Camille Egloff, MD and Senior Partner, BCG, who was accompanied by Mathieu Friedberg, CEO, CEVA Logistics, who joined the session as a speaker.
In a poll held during the session, 68% of participants selected “setting up a “crisis sourcing war-room” to de-risk their supply chains” as one of the first actions they took as part of their supply chain management strategy in response to COVID-19. Just over half (54%) revealed they focused on building trust with critical and mega-suppliers – the second most common response among chemical producers, according to the poll.
Additionally, 46% of respondents said the other two most urgent actions they took in response to the COVID-19 pandemic was reducing costs, optimizing working capital and conserving cash, and focusing on collaboration cross-functionally within their organization.
Thinking ahead to 2021, the poll indicated four high importance actions going forward in managing the future landscape of supply chains:
- Stronger collaboration and partnership with key suppliers and end users (77% of participants selected this response)
- End to end supplier risk management strategies (54%)
- Digital ways of working (e.g. dashboards, supply control tower, etc.) – selected by 46% of participants
- Localization of supply chains or critical goods and services (38%)
The session concluded with five key considerations for chemical companies to focus on in order to emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis.
- Megatrends that are shaping supply chain recovery:
- balance between global and regional economies
- demand driven vs. supply driven markets
- climate action and regulations
- balance between cost reduction and risk mitigation
- adoption of digital and technology solutions
- consolidation in the market
- Stronger collaboration with key suppliers and end users
- End to end supplier risk management strategies
- Digital ways of working
- Localization of supply chain of critical goods and services
To learn more about the GPCA Members Dialogue, visit this page.