Yet 2024 hasn’t been without its challenges for the global supply chain, which is still undergoing a long-term transformation amidst growing geopolitical, physical, and cyber disruptions. This year, the focus has been on belt-tightening, profitability, and cash management. Looking ahead to 2025, the industry will need to strike a balance between the often-competing priorities of efficiency, security, and innovation.
The bill comes due on cybersecurity. In early April of this year, a coordinated cyberattack targeted several maritime ports and vessels, causing widespread disruption.
Incidents are growing in frequency and severity, substantially increasing risks of identity theft, espionage and severe safety incidents. The unfortunate truth in all of this is that the supply chain industry has historically underinvested in cyber security. The bill is now coming due.
Going forward, the industry will have to treat cyber security as a top priority, evaluating existing systems and processes and putting security at the forefront for any new deployments. And it must do so without unduly slowing down digital transformation efforts.
My view is that regardless of which way the political winds blow, supply chain professionals should focus on what they can control, continuing the work that started in earnest post-pandemic of diversifying their supplier networks and implementing more nearshoring capabilities.
More disruptions (not least of all from new market entrants). Supply chain disruptions will remain a fact of life. What we will see more of in 2025 is disruption brought on by a surge of new startups.
The potential for these new entrants to upend the market order is unlike any we’ve experienced before. Why? AI. Because of AI, the pace of technology development is multiplying exponentially. These new companies, unburdened by legacy technologies, have a very real opportunity to leapfrog incumbents.
AI, automation AND upskilling. After a three-day walkout earlier this year, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and U.S. Maritime Alliance reached a tentative agreement on wages and extended their existing labor contract until Jan. 15. But the potential use of automation remains a major sticking point for the unions.
My company recently worked with a client who embarked on a technology deployment with an expectation of eventually reducing headcount. In the end, when they saw how they could use an influx of high-quality, actionable supply chain data to improve operations AND their customer experiences, they added new positions.
AI and automation aren’t the enemy. But for supply chain companies to fully benefit from these technologies, they need to invest more in upskilling their employees. For example, with GenAI it’s crucial to train workers in prompt engineering so they can access the right information quickly and streamline outdated processes, all while creating new value for customers. Likewise, automation offers a chance to shift dangerous tasks away from human workers, freeing them up to take on higher-value responsibilities
AI and automation will increase. New entrants will upend existing markets. The companies that survive and thrive in this future will be cleared-eyed about the pace of change and will balance innovation, security and the interplay between technology and our human workers.
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