New Survey Highlights Confidence in Supply Chain Operations Despite Challenges

By STS News Desk On Apr 7, 2021

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GlobalTranz Enterprises, LLC., a leading technology-enabled third-party logistics solutions provider, released the results of a survey of U.S. supply chain leaders. The survey findings, published on the heels of GlobalTranz’s strong Q4 performance to close out 2020, revealed optimism around future supply chain performance while noting sustained challenges in solving final mile problems, rising transportation costs and workforce demands.

This latest survey from GlobalTranz shows a strong belief among supply chain leadership that we are in a robust economic rebound from COVID-19 and a feeling that supply chains are ready to meet surging consumer demand. The data comes a year after the initial pandemic disruption of supply chains, and follows GlobalTranz’s survey of supply chain leaders in the fall of 2020, which indicated that decision makers did not feel prepared for shifting logistics needs.

“Over the past year, companies serving both individual consumers and businesses have had to deal with changing buyer behaviors and inventory management techniques that have created significant supply chain volatility,” said Bob Farrell, Chairman and CEO of GlobalTranz. “This survey shows that while there is consistent optimism in an economic recovery, supply chain leaders understand that many new challenges lie ahead and that partnering with technology-centric logistics providers is critical to enabling visibility across supply chains, boosting e-commerce capabilities and meeting customer demands.”

COVID-19 Vaccine Impact and Future Outlook

Six months ago, companies were faced with record-breaking shipping volumes due to increased e-commerce demand on top of peak shipping demands during the period that preceded the holiday season from October through December. Supply chains continue to operate at these peak levels and consumer and business buying activity isn’t showing signs of slowing down in 2021.

Despite global supply chains being overburdened, decision makers still believe their own supply chains are prepared to meet consumer demand. Confidence in their logistics partnerships is high, with 91% of respondents agreeing that their 3PL partners will effectively meet their needs in 2021. This confidence in current partnerships to navigate the market and in the decisions made over the last few months is driving optimism in these decision makers ability to meet their business challenges.

With a confluence of economic and societal factors at play, only 1 in 10 decision makers reported a pessimistic outlook of their company’s revenue 3-6 months and even a year from now.

7 in 10 respondents believe the COVID-19 vaccine rollout will enable them to attract new customers; 94% of respondents reported confidence that there will be robust economic recovery due to vaccine distribution.
6 in 10 believe that the latest stimulus packages will benefit both their operations and business revenue.
More than half anticipate that regulatory policy coming out of the new U.S. administration will have a positive impact on their business operations and revenue. This sentiment comes as major bills around infrastructure are introduced in Washington D.C.

At the same time, decision makers took note of challenges that remain across their supply chains:

37% noted rising transportation costs as something they will need to continue to manage throughout 2021.
31% reported concerns over having enough workforce to meet the demand for consumers.
24% cited poor handling or service related to home deliveries as an ongoing challenge; 76% cited concerns over the ability of their small parcel provider to deliver on time.
1 in 3 list having enough resources (parts, materials, product, etc.) as a top concern to meet the demand of customers

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