Visibility against uncertainty in the supply chain

Supply chain management in times of high volatility and uncertainty technically known as VUCA environments, it has been subject of discussion of a round table organized by the Spanish Logistics Center during the celebration of the Logistics fair in Madrid, with the participation of Óscar López, FIELDEAS general manager.

The meeting showed that the pandemic has accelerated some trends that were already present in logistics management but had not yet taken off.

Óscar López believes that this is precisely what has happened with supply chain visibility, which has become a real priority for many shippers, who need to have complete visibility of the chain precisely to combat uncertainty.

Moreover, for the FIELDEAS CEO, this transformation process has to proactively involve shippers so that through visibility, resilient supply chains can be built.

Collaboration becomes a fundamental element for each actor to contribute their grain of sand to face a digitalization process in the chain, in which the real change will come through a profound cultural change.

In turn, this cultural change implies that all the components of the chain become aware of the importance for all of them to know at all times where the merchandise is and in what condition it is.

All this will be achieved, according to Óscar López, through a greater degree of collaboration.

In this same sense, technology plays a fundamental role in driving collaboration in the supply chain, since it offers appropriate solutions with adjusted investments and, in addition, it offers returns that operators, carriers and shippers obtain directly and that imply generating immediate profitability.

In turn, the general manager of FIELDEAS also emphasized the moment of profound transformation that logistics management is undergoing.

In his opinion, redesigning the supply chain is a challenge in which visibility technologies must play a decisive role in order to achieve resilient and flexible chains.

“To know when flexibility is needed you need full visibility to be able to make the right logistics management decisions at the right time.”

In this way, technology makes it possible to anticipate any circumstance that may alter the supply chain in a flexible manner, thereby increasing resilience in times of high uncertainty and volatility.