PHILADELPHIA—Although nearly half of supply chain executives at multi-national companies in the chemical, consumer goods, industrial, and retail sectors consider their supply chains to be global, the reality is that most supply chain operating decisions, are, in fact, regional, according to a recent report published by Centrx, a consulting unit of freight logistics and transportation management firm BDP International, and St. Joseph’s University.

The report, entitled "Managing Your International Supply Chain," was based on feedback from roughly 80 global supply chain executives, who provided e-mail feedback for various global supply chain-related functions and initiatives, such as the role of globalization of trade, on-time delivery, and total landed costs, among others.

Centrx Managing Director Yone Dewberry told Logistics Management that while 48 percent of the report’s respondents consider their supply chain operations global, many of these supply chains are actually becoming "regionalized" due to various factors, such as pressure to achieve per-unit cost reductions and the emergence of true global data visibility, among others.

"In order for supply chains to be truly global, you need information on a global basis," said Dewberry. "And a lot of [shippers] don’t have the information visibility to make global decisions."

One of the biggest ways in which global supply chain managers and executives can keep current with global information is through continued investments in supply chain technology and management systems, according to the report. And 43 percent of all respondents in the report said that they are seeing shorter lead times for moving freight that are a result of investments in warehouse management, ERP, and TMS (transportation management systems). Meanwhile, the 32 percent of respondents that did not make any type of technology investments had longer lead times, and 35 percent had not implemented any advanced technology-based systems into their supply chains.

And as the role of technology gains in importance in the supply chain space, Dewberry noted that the companies that continue to invest in technology that allows them to combine disparate data or have a single, common, global data platform or map are the ones that are seeing the benefits of things like reduced lead times.

Trade Globalization
As trade becomes more globalized, it has brought about a surge in shipper sourcing and delivery points, according to the report. And the report said this has resulted in longer lead times and a need to have a better understanding of regulatory trade machinations. And 64 percent of respondents said that on-time delivery is the biggest supply chain issue they face, with total landed costs and logistics coming in second at 39 percent.

In terms of understanding regulatory trade processes, Dewberry explained how a lack of understanding these things can severely impact trade and the flow of goods.

"When you make a decision to source from another country, there are rules and regulations for what you need when you import into the U.S. or into other countries," said Dewberry. "And some companies do not understand the full impact of how much information they might need and the capability of their suppliers to provide that information. This is especially true with multi-national [shippers] who are not just importing into the U.S. But for a multi-national that is not only sourcing into the U.S. but also Europe, or the Middle East..they may not know those rules and regulations abroad and those [rules and regulations] tend not to be as straightforward as the ones in the U.S."