2022 had its challenges and the hope is that 2023 will bring more opportunities for businesses. John Piatek, VP Consulting Services at GEP, takes a look at what the new year will bring in the area of procurement and supply chain development as a whole. You can watch a short summary of GEP’s report for the state of the supply chain in 2023 below.
‘Unfortunately, 2023 looks like another challenging year,’ John begins. The writing has been on the wall throughout the last year and many of the problems will persist. These include supply chain instabilities, geopolitical troubles and the war in Ukraine.
Inflation and interest rates will dominate the business outlook and will couple with the fight to protect the planet and limit the environmental damage industrial development has caused. ‘This will not be a normal year,’ John continues.
Light in the darkness
Not all is lost as companies and individuals have already committed to addressing many of these problems and are actively working towards a better future.
Supply chain and procurement, much like in the two years prior, are set to play a big role. The expectation is that businesses will step up and do what central banks and governments, addressing different challenges, can’t.
‘Supply chains will be wielded for good to drive forward profit and values,’ John explaines. ‘They will drive forward ESG goals much more than ever before.’ Supply chains are also expected to reach a higher level of digitisation, something that has been a theme in the industry for years.
New Teams & Metric
Supply chains will also be able to help with inflation and new metrics will become more important to businesses. At the same time, new talent will also emerge as crucial.
‘In many ways 2023 will be the year where procurement and supply chain will switch from propping up the enterprise in times of instability, towards leadership engines that drive the business forward.’ ✷
