(Works Management)
The main challenges facing supply chains are managing external factors, such as the global economic crisis, and addressing green issues, says a new report, ‘Transportation Management: Lessons from a Difficult Two Years’.
The report, from AMR Research in collaboration with RedPrairie Corporation, indicates there are three key external events that have affected transportation in the consumer products, food and beverage, and chemical manufacturing industries. These include oil price volatility, the recession and major catastrophes, such as Hurricane Katrina. More recently, the disruption caused by the much-publicised Icelandic volcanic ash cloud had a similar impact.
Developing more sophisticated and flexible transportation systems to reduce risk is an area consumer product manufacturers and the food and drink industry need to address, whereas the chemical sector appears to have established systems more able to cope with re-routing due to its history of dealing with natural disasters. Read more here.
