Global supply chains are being rebuilt and the companies that rethink their operations now will be better prepared for the customer of tomorrow. In this Supply Chain Byte, Lisa Anderson discusses a recent Fortune interview with FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam, who highlighted $1.8 trillion in inefficiencies across the global supply chain. His key points reinforce what manufacturers should be thinking about now: supply chains are being rebuilt, AI’s greatest value is optimizing operations rather than replacing people, and transformation requires alignment across strategy, technology, operations and culture.

Lisa explains why manufacturers should begin rethinking their supply chains — from implementing SIOP to considering reshoring, nearshoring, and stronger strategic partnerships – to improve performance, profitability and customer responsiveness.

The three key points we should take away from the interview are ones we should prioritize to succeed in the supply chain.

1. Supply Chain Reconfiguration: The best companies are rebuilding their supply chains. Proactive executives are rethinking their supply chain network, the dependencies in their end-to-end supply chain, and what their future customer requirements will require to ensure customer success and profitable growth. Proactive companies are reshoring, nearshoring, forming strategic partnerships and reconfiguring supply chains for tomorrow’s customer needs.
2. Artificial intelligence (AI) value: FedEx’s CEO said that the value of AI is in optimizing operations, not replacing people. There has been fear in the news about AI although the statistics are starting to rack up. According to Ramp research, AI is helping successful companies grow. Check out our Supply Chain Byte on this topic. We are seeing significant success in the client’s that upgrade their use of modern ERP with AI functionality. For example, sales forecasting, MPS, MRP and APS systems are improving resiliency, profitability, and predictability. 
3. Supply Chain Transformation: He also said that supply chain transformation requires aligning strategy, operations, technology, and culture to ensure success. We find this to be 100% correct which is why we see our most successful clients utilizing SIOP (Sales Inventory Operations Planning) processes to align demand with supply, customers with suppliers, and functions within the organization (such as Sales, Operations and Finance). In addition, it is why upgrading the use of ERP and advanced technologies is cornerstone to success. Performing manual, repetitive tasks will not lead to success. Instead, moving from reactive to proactive with MPS, MRP, WMS, APS and the like is the recipe for success.

The future belongs to manufacturers that take control of their supply chains today. By strengthening end-to-end planning, leveraging AI to improve decision-making, and aligning strategy with execution through processes like SIOP, companies can build more resilient, responsive, and profitable operations that are prepared for whatever comes next.

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