CONFERENCES

Description

The health crisis has accelerated the growing geopolitical tensions since China has been advocating for a necessary rebalancing of the world order, even before the war in Ukraine began. This represents a strategic geopolitical sequence impacting businesses, compounded by environmental and technological challenges. The crisis has made it clear that partially moving away from China is necessary to secure flows and get closer to markets (nearshoring). Public policies are increasingly promoting friendshoring instead of relocating companies' operations back to their home countries. However, the equation becomes more complex with the evolution of energy costs. Relocation policies face challenges due to energy bills, making previously attractive territories less appealing. The complexity increases further with the issue of access to resources, particularly rare earth elements and other raw materials, which become strategic issues for companies and geopolitical concerns for nations.

Transforming the marketing slogan from the 80s, later adopted by environmentalists, "Think globally, Act locally," the current complexity seems to call for "Think globally, Act globally"! This first round table will provide diverse perspectives on these topics.

Description

In markets that have become VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) due to major current challenges (geopolitical, environmental, etc.), technological innovations are often presented as one of the major solutions, sometimes forgetting that they themselves constitute a challenge! This "technological solutionism," to use the expression of Evgeny Morozov, creates exaggerated expectations that can be dashed by poorly conceived, poorly conducted projects that sometimes consume enormous sums of money.

However, today, many technologies offer significant potential to improve the performance of supply chains, from market understanding, sales forecasting (S&OP), and visibility of flows throughout the transport chains to the automation of activities. To reduce the risks of failure, a fine knowledge of these technologies and their real potential is necessary. But the question of organizational prerequisites is strategic. Technologies do not change organizations but contribute to their evolution when they are prepared for it. Using examples, this second round table will discuss these organizational prerequisites.

Description

Until the health crisis and its consequences, managing supply chains was thought of in terms of tightening flows and reducing dedicated assets. Lowering stocks and costs, shortening lead times while maintaining service levels throughout the supply chain was the mantra for measuring operational performance. Additionally, since the 2008 financial crisis, there has been a trend towards outsourcing dedicated assets, aiming to reduce the risk of bearing fixed costs during economic slowdowns and improve companies' balance sheets.

Without rejecting these dogmas, today they are being questioned. Stock levels are no longer viewed merely from a balance sheet perspective but in terms of their relevance for supply chain security and cost volatility. Slow logistics questions the constant acceleration of flows and opens new perspectives in terms of massification. Finally, the crisis has shown the potential dangers of excessive outsourcing and non-asset models. Environmental challenges also require measuring environmental performance and making progress in this area. This third round table will illustrate these issues related to measuring and managing supply chain performance.