It seems like just about everyone is talking about supply chains nowadays. The snags in the supply chain are being felt by everyday people, whether it’s the empty shelves at grocery stores or the chip shortages for automotive or consumer goods.
With all that talk both in and outside of the industry comes a lot of vocabulary. We’re diving into the top supply chain buzzwords of 2022.
Pivot
This category can also include “adaptability” and “resiliency.” What do you do when things don’t go as planned? You pivot! But what happens when everything continues to come out of left field? If you were pivoting before, now you’re spinning in circles.
Don’t get us wrong. The TOC Logistics team is all about thinking on our feet and creating inventive answers to supply chain problems. However, we’ll focus on coming up with solutions without making everyone think about that one Friends episode.
Capacity
Right now, the industry is full of stories, bulletins and announcements about low capacity across modes. Capacity has been an issue for years, especially with the snags caused by closed ports at the beginning of the pandemic, followed up by the continued backlog even now.
Everyone is worried about capacity—and that’s fair. Trade must continue, even in the face of, well, all of this. Despite that, we find ourselves reading this word over and over again, even from sources outside of the logistics industry. Trucking capacity, ocean capacity, air capacity…they’re on everybody’s lips. Unfortunately, if the current state of the supply chain indicates anything, it’s a word that won’t be disappearing anytime soon.
Blockchain
Blockchain technology has been around for several years, but the general public seems to be embracing it only recently. Oddly enough, as far as the rest of society is concerned, blockchain seems to have become the cure-all for logistics issues. This tech can be incredibly useful—we don’t deny that. However, a lot of people seem to think it as nearly magical.
In truth, blockchain is a secure and comprehensive technology that can provide transparency and cross-channel communication for organizations. However, it is not a solution to every supply chain problem, as most industry professionals seem to understand. Can it help? Yes, but adopting blockchain technology into an organization will not automatically optimize every part of the supply chain.
As with all things related to logistics, we expect these buzzwords to change over the next few months. We’ll continue to stay on top of communication trends and changes in the supply chain so our customers can feel prepared, no matter what comes their way. After all, it’s what we’re here for.