In Focus: 2023 SCM Strategies for Industry Leaders

Supply chain leaders face dual pressure to reduce costs due to inflation while expanding operations to meet growing consumer demands.

Labor productivity in supply chains has hit decade-low levels despite technological advances, highlighting the critical need for effective technology implementation and adoption.

The 3PL market is projected to reach $2.3 trillion by 2030, driven by retailers and manufacturers without dedicated fleets seeking reliable delivery partners.

Supply chain leaders face dual pressure to reduce costs due to inflation while expanding operations to meet growing consumer demands.

Labor productivity in supply chains has hit decade-low levels despite technological advances, highlighting the critical need for effective technology implementation and adoption.

The 3PL market is projected to reach $2.3 trillion by 2030, driven by retailers and manufacturers without dedicated fleets seeking reliable delivery partners.

As supply chains move past the uncertainties of 2020, they are met with new challenges while continuing to meet demands for greater efficiency, reduced operational costs and memorable consumer experiences. 

Locus attended the Gartner Supply Chain Symposium that took place in Orlando, Florida in May. If you were unable to attend the symposium, Our Chief Revenue Officer, Mehul Kapadia summed up the key themes from the symposium for SCM leaders, focusing on the top challenges they must surmount in 2023, and the strategies unveiled at the symposium to optimize supply chains, with a particular emphasis on last-mile delivery.

Here are the key insights from the webinar:

Top SCM Challenges

The ongoing inflation crisis is hitting supply chain leaders hard, putting pressure on them to cut costs. However, they also need to expand to meet the escalating demands of consumers.

Seven Themes Recommended at the Gartner Symposium

1. Effective Technology Implementation:

Surprisingly, despite technological advancements meant to enhance productivity, labor productivity has been at its lowest in a decade. Adoption of technology could help improve the situation. Prioritizing SCM technology is critical for the board of directors of all SCM companies. Many firms are adopting a range of technologies to improve supply chain operations, including industrial automation. It’s not just hardware technologies making a difference — software solutions, such as Locus, can offer significant benefits.

A driver companion solution like Locus can help drivers avoid burnout, deliver orders more quickly, and better manage tasks, leading to an improved delivery process and increased company revenue. Our solution has empowered 300,000 drivers worldwide and saved 57 million miles.

2. Facilitating Real-time Decision Making:

Customer demands for faster delivery are growing more intense. This means that last-mile delivery services must embrace smart technologies to keep up with the pace. Automating fulfillment operations is essential for success. Manual processes like routing and parcel sorting are prime candidates for automation. Locus has assisted leading brands like Avian in optimizing last-mile deliveries through real-time decision-making.

 You can learn more about how Locus supported Avian Brands in our webinar.

3. Advanced Analytics:

 Improvement relies on quantification. Without data and insights, creating strategies to enhance SCM is like groping in the dark. Locus’ advanced analytics solution has aided numerous brands in improving last-mile performance through dashboard analytics.

4. 3PLs Will Be Key for SCM

A recent study projected that the 3PL market size could expand to $2.3 trillion by 2030. This growth is primarily driven by retailers, FMCGs, and others who don’t have a dedicated fleet and therefore rely on 3PLs & CEPs for delivery. While there’s no shortage of 3PLs, choosing the right carrier presents a challenge for shippers. Amidst a sea of carriers, picking one that matches the right SLA, cost, and other parameters can be a daunting task given the overwhelming amount of data to consider. However, employing a smart carrier management system can solve most of these issues. Locus’ ShipFlex can help shippers automate the carrier selection process from start to finish, thus eliminating error-prone manual selection.

Check out ShipFlex’s capabilities here.

5. Returns Management:

Research reveals that total returns in the United States in 2022 amounted to $816 billion, a concerning figure. Returns are inevitable due to various reasons like product damage, wrong product delivery, or even delays. Shippers must consider reverse logistics to reduce the cost of returns. However, by leveraging a smart customer experience and dispatch management platform like Locus, shippers can plan deliveries based on automated capacity management, which takes into account routing issues, cancellations, and returns.

This approach reduces fuel costs and carbon emissions and enhances the driver and customer experience. Experience our smart delivery management system for seamless reverse logistics.

6. Sustainable Supply Chain:

Green logistics used to be a pipe dream for many companies. But thanks to advancements in last-mile technology, some shippers and carriers have started to cut down their CO2 emissions. Nonetheless, most companies are still grappling with the integration of a sustainable DMP into their supply chain due to IT budget constraints and other organizational hurdles. In COP27, countries like the US and Europe pledged to go carbon-neutral by 2050, with India following suit by 2070. With these commitments, shippers and carriers find themselves under government scrutiny and must adopt sustainable dispatch planning solutions promptly to maintain compliance.

7. Customer Delight with Omnichannel Retail:

The ultimate goal for any shipper is achieving customer delight. Shippers must captivate their customers in various ways. Quick delivery is one aspect of customer satisfaction, but there’s more. Shippers must offer customers a range of shipping options, low shipping costs, easy returns and cancellations, straightforward tracking, and time-sensitive deliveries. Locus’ dispatch management and customer experience platform can do all of that. From optimizing and automating capacity and route planning to complete tracking and hassle-free third-party delivery, we help to enhance customer experience and generate delight.

Conclusion

The themes recommended at the Gartner Symposium are all aimed at effectively addressing supply chain challenges. If you’re currently considering last-mile technology partners for your business, we’d be more than happy to demonstrate how Locus’ DMP can enhance your supply chain operations.