This is your weekly supply chain bulletin from B2BE for the week starting 7th November 2022.
Each week, we bring you a rundown of the latest trends in the news from across the supply chain industry. We cover the issues most important to you, bringing you useful links to the full articles. This ranges from news on various supply chain disruptions to strategies to lessen the damage. We also include other relevant supply chain related updates. If you missed it, you can read last week’s edition here. Read on to see what’s making the news this week.
The long supply chain journey for Africa’s copper industry
Production of copper in Africa is booming, yet the International Monetary Fund has issued a warning that a shortage of metals like copper could hinder the energy transition. The issue being, the journey the copper needs to take before it’s able to meet its destination. The 1,900 mile journey from the mines in Congo and Zambia to the ports is so full of jams and bottlenecks that it can take more than a month.
Managing global supply chains: why it’s so difficult
Supply chain visibility is key to understanding what’s going on during the supply chain process. One of the solutions to the current problem is not only gaining visibility but assessing which suppliers are prone to the greatest risk. In a recent study using a large public dataset of supply linkages in the economy it showed that supply chains are vast, dense and dynamic.
The rise in the nearshoring trend
The impact of the Covid pandemic encouraged organisations to bring sourcing and manufacturing closer to home. As the problems continue to persist more organisations are looking how close to home they can bring existing operations which means more businesses are moving away from China and other Asian locales, even with the cost increases.
Is the jewellery industry surviving the supply chain crisis?
Large names such as Cartier, are continuing to expand operations in the midst of the global supply chain crisis. Could this be a sign that jewellery businesses are withstanding inflation and supply chain pressures? A vast amount of the silver, gold and platinum used by the industry is mined in the US, cutting down the cost of global shipping, and what’s mined further afield is using air travel due to the sizes, meaning the industry hasn’t been hit by the port delays.
More information
Thank you for reading our weekly supply chain bulletin where we summarise the latest news! Is your organisation facing disruptions to your supply chain? If so, what strategies are you currently using to protect your transactions?
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