Webinar Report: The New Post-Covid Supply Chain Paradigm

TABS Webinar Report

On April 8, 2021, the EACCNY (European American Chamber of Commerce in New York) held a webinar on the challenges of Supply Chain Post-Covid. TABS attended the webinar and made a report.

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted companies around the world and caused major supply chain disruption. EACCNY experts analyzed the effects on demand patterns and supply chain management globally and which of the new routines are here to stay. Besides the pandemic, new geopolitical realities also have their effect on global supply chains. Trade and tariffs have become a tool of a larger foreign policy context, and sale of, or access to critical components has become the focus of security concerns.

All these factors drive the need to changing the nature of supply chains. To succeed we need to better understand the key drivers of change and disruption is step one. It affects every business, although some industries are more affected than others due to geographical footprint, production factors, complexity, or value. Supply chain management moved up on the agenda as the focus switched from “Optimization” to “Survival”.

To shine a light on how we are moving from Stage 1: “structuring supply chains for cost efficiency” to Stage 2: “diversification due to trade war implications” to Stage 3: “resiliency given disruptions from pandemic (logistics, government intervention, shut-downs), panelists discussed:
●  How diversified and/or dependent are the US and the EU supply chains, and what critical for resilience?
●  What role is there for the transatlantic relationship? Are the US and the EU privileged partners or competitors like any other?
●  How will we navigate through trade tensions to lower costs and increase profits and how will the shift from “Just in Time” production to “Just in Case” production tie in with existing and new to be negotiated trade agreements?
●  How to deal with Intellectual Property and concerns around dependencies regarding key industries (tech sector and healthcare sectors for example)?
●  Is a strategy of low-cost supplies and minimum inventories still viable in a (post) COVID-19 world?
●  Will reshoring give us the guarantee of access to certain food and medical goods?
●  How to establish a business with increased flexibility, agility and resilience?

How to best prepare for future challenges and what crisis-management mechanisms to develop and how can companies mitigate future risk.

SPEAKERS:
●  Patricia Gomes, Head Global Trade and Receivables Finance North America, HSBC
●  Mark Ludwig, National Leader Trade Advisory Services, RSM
●  Rupert Schlegelmilch, Director DG Trade, EUROPEAN COMMISSION
●  Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran, US Business Editor, THE ECONOMIST [Moderator]

The report TABS made of this webinar can be downloaded here.