Read on for all the insights from our latest Manufacturing Supply Risk Forum.
There’s no challenge more relevant, pressing and critical to the modern manufacturer than that of how to achieve supply chain resilience. So, Dun & Bradstreet was delighted to welcome customers across sectors including defence, automotive, engineering, glass and packaging for our latest Manufacturing Supply Risk Forum, held at our London HQ.
Creating Supply Chain Competitiveness in a VUCA World
Emeritus Professor of Supply Chain Strategy from Cranfield University, Richard Wilding OBE, kicked off this engaging session with a deep dive into ‘Creating supply chain competitiveness in a volatile world’. Richard is an award-winning and globally recognised expert in Supply Chain Management, regularly sharing his views on the BBC and supporting organisations such as DHL to transform their supply chains. With decades of real-world industry and research experience, Richard explored why the future locus of competition will be between organisations’ supply chains and how the winners will be those managing megatrends well, from inflation to digitalisation, ESG, talent scarcity and the increasingly multi-polar world that geopolitics is forging.
Richard argued that decades of relative peace and stability mean we’ve forgotten how to be adaptive in our supply chains, and that popular lean manufacturing approaches are too risky in an era in which so-called ‘black swan events’ driven by climate change and war come in ever faster waves.
The good news? In a world shaped by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) manufacturers can successfully predict, plan, pivot and grow – given good supply chain coordination and the timely data-driven insights that are key to resilience.
He believes that global supply chain risk monitoring across financial, sustainability, compliance, organisational network and environmental factors should sit at the heart of modern supply chain design – powered by HS codes and other data that can uncover areas of high risk and provide transparency into linkages between suppliers.
Importantly, your supply chain should also be shaped by what really drives value for your business. Clue: that’s not necessarily speed! Business strategies such as servitisation are on the rise, with products and services integrated to drive new value for customers in a circular, value-rich Supply Chain 4.0.
Professor Wilding wrapped up by looking at why supply diversification, AI, and enhanced relationship management are essential to designing powerful new ‘anti-fragile’ supply chains that can actively thrive in uncertain environments.
Richard Wilding OBE joined us for an episode of our Power of Data podcast just after the event. Listen now to hear more of his thoughts on supply chain resilience and ‘anti-fragility’, AI, ESG, and pandemic-driven innovations shaping the future of manufacturing supply chains. Find the podcast here.
Illuminating the Full Supply Chain
Next up, Ester Zigon from Dun & Bradstreet’s Business Advisory and Analytics practice led a lively session on rooting out hidden supply chain risk to avoid disruption, legal costs and reputational damage. By changing how we view risk, she showed how we can map Tier-N supply chains for better network visibility and to uncover hidden risks and dangerous interdependencies.
Ester provided an overview of our Supply Chain Illumination solution which can help do just that by assessing Tier-N disclosable and undisclosable DUNs. The result: you see things you may not expect including how one supplier can have multiple roles in your supply chain, leaving you exposed.
ESG and Chain Reactions
The forum ended with Dun & Bradstreet’s Head of ESG for Europe, Alicia Heavisides, looking at how we can best assess supplier ESG performance and why rapidly evolving regulations, greater consumer focus on sustainability and environmental risks are transforming how manufacturers manage supply chains.
Alicia revealed unexpected chain reactions between geographies and events, such as how devastating floods in Thailand in 2011 massively hit the production of IT equipment and transport machinery in Sweden 8,000 miles away and damaged Thai imports with a £3 billion loss of sales. She also looked at why in the race to decarbonise, manufacturers need to go beyond managing Tier 1 supplier risk.
Finally, Alicia touched on how welcome new directives such as CSRD and CSDDD are driving more standardised and transparent sustainability reporting. She highlighted how having strong foundational data on third parties – whether looking across the whole portfolio or in high-risk pockets – is key to tackle now, so that manufacturers are ready to efficiently and accurately meet both existing and new directives and regulations, as they come into force.
Thanks to everyone who came along, asked great questions and stayed for informal networking over lunch. We hope you can join us next time!
Visit our Manufacturing Hub
To find out more about how our data and solutions can help manufacturers make smarter decisions that drive business performance, please click the link below and visit our Manufacturing hub.