Leveraging the benefits of supply chain orchestration for the North American market

At 4flow's 4PL division in North America, we’ve consistently delivered remarkable improvements to our customers’ supply chains by helping to reduce transportation costs, boost network performance, and advance overall supply chain maturity.

In today’s rapidly evolving and competitive markets, however, and particularly in the US, transportation improvements alone are insufficient to reach high customer satisfaction levels and achieve the growth that is required.

By collaborating closely with our customers, we’ve identified opportunities to create even greater value by optimizing the entire supply chain for enhanced efficiency and resilience. We call this journey supply chain orchestration.

The range of today’s supply chain challenges in North America

The journey starts by listening to our customers about the challenges they face, whether it’s increased inventory levels or overstocking, for example. With the current borrowing rate in the US, the cost of inventories has become even more expensive. This means that inventory management – or poor inventory management, to be more specific – has a significant impact on an organization’s profits and losses.

Furthermore, supply chain sustainability requirements across many industries are increasing. Whether government mandated, driven by shareholder expectations or ethics, this represents a significant challenge. In the automotive industry, for example, many businesses are currently struggling to stay ahead of the changes in OEM production plans for conventional combustion engines versus electric vehicles (EV).

Global disruption and high customer expectations

Compounding these challenges is the increasing frequency of global disruptions. Senior supply chain leaders often find themselves troubleshooting daily issues, leaving little time to focus on strategic initiatives. Many leaders today are seeing how difficult it is to manage a business when you're consumed by day-to-day operations.

Take, for example, the potential for work stoppages at US East and Gulf Coast ports due to ongoing contract discussions. These recently threatened to disrupt supply chains and create shortages of essential goods. Not only can such disruptions impact domestic supply, but they also jeopardize international sales.

Another example: recent bankruptcies have led to significant resource shifts in supply chains. In cases like this, supply chain teams are often the last to know that products originally sourced from an area like metro Detroit need to come from overseas. As a result, these teams are forced to resort to air shipping until they can restore their ocean freight pipeline.

All of this happens amid increasing stakeholder expectations. What I call the "Amazon effect" has heightened expectations for real-time information and rapid decision-making, often relying on advanced technologies like AI. Despite technological advancements, the persistence of functional silos within organizations hampers collaboration, both internally and with external partners.