How CFOs Are Doubling Down on Supply Chain Resiliency

With improving shipping costs and major supply chain disruptions at ease for the moment, CFOs remain hyper focused on building and strengthening supply chain resiliency. They are finding a host of options, as well. From automating and diversifying supply lines to deeper risk management activities and predictive analytics, industry advances are pushing companies to leverage technology and planning improvements to help them better prepare for inevitable shifts and any trouble to come.

Priorities Ahead

Supply chain leaders are enhancing their ability to be future ready in the face of material disruptions, geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, and almost certain future disruptions. A full 73% of supply chain IT budgets will be earmarked for growth and performance enhancements this year according to a recent Gartner report, and 65% of supply chain leaders surveyed anticipate more technology investments ahead.

Leading those budgets and investments aimed at shoring up supply chain resiliency are CFOs, which have taken a much more central role in supply chain operations, even as pandemic-related disruptions fade.

CFOs have gained a steadier grip on preparing supply chains for the future. A Global Finance Trends Survey found nearly half of CFOs have been moving away from efficiency-based supply chain models to revenue assurance models that emphasize flexibility and resilience, for example. They have also found welcome cost-lowering benefits from creating stronger supply chain operations.  

Measures including time to recover (TTR) can track the recovery of production, revenue and profit margins following disruptions. CFOs have also gone deeper into demand side by deploying predictive analytics, environmental scanning and better scenario planning.

Key Tools

Options for mitigating supply chain risk have grown significantly since pandemic-era disruptions. Better integrated reporting tools, for example, ensure that data from supply chain and finance are better timed for more accurate, real-time results sharing.

When systems are integrated, there is no lag time, and information flows transparently to all stakeholders. The result is fewer surprises and better alignment across KPIs and operations.

Other tools and tactics include:

• Extended Planning Software - Traditionally, finance, supply chain, sales, marketing, purchasing, and manufacturing teams haven’t spoken the same language. Extended planning tools enable finance, supply chain and other operational areas to better connect the essential information required to update forecasts and develop/model scenarios, leveraging shared data and common repositories.
• Predictive Analytics - More accurate forecasting equates to more operational resiliency. Searching for trends in customer, market and geopolitical information is faster and more reliable with advanced predictive analytics tools and they can leverage omnichannel data to model the impact of both financial and operational decisions, reduce risk, and improve control
• Just-In-Case Models – From just-in-time to just-in-case, smarter inventory models can better manage demand spikes in both unpredictable supply and limited stock scenarios. Thoughtfully segmenting inventory can further refine inventory policies to better balance service and cost.
• Advocating for Investments - Supply chain technology has advanced leaps and bounds in the past decade. But not all businesses have kept up with that innovation. With the right tools, including better scenario planning, systems that give more robust visibility, omnichannel data sources and real-time data analytics, supply chain operations are far more likely to weather disruptions. Quantifying the costs of instability and maintaining production agility throughout the supply chain is critical.‍

‍Supply Chain Trends  

Heading into the remainder of 2023, the lines between business and technology strategies continue to be blurred. According to Gartner, supply chain leaders must understand the strategic, disruptive and unavoidable technologies that will impact their planning processes over the next five years.   

This calls for new forms of engagement, optimizing for resilience, and scaling performance. Among the top trends to watch are what is called actionable AI, which mimics human problem solving, while keeping humans in the loop for validation and delivers much faster, data-driven planning solutions.

Cloud-based software platforms also figure prominently as a go-to technology solution that vastly improves agility, business capabilities, visibility and scenario planning. Supply chain integration services that encompass technology platforms, teams and strategic decision making are also becoming more prevalent as CFOs seek newer, comprehensive ways to control supply chain predictability and health.

As CFOs dig more deeply into supply chain details, seek added supply chain diversity and spend more time making sure all key players and teams are in sync, the shifting sands of the global supply chain industry will continue to deliver reasons for companies to stay on their toes and look to technology as a key ally.

If you are exploring the right technology partner to build supply chain resiliency through advanced, proven solutions, reach out to ketteQ and let us help you get started.

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