Tag Archives: supply chain

by | Tuesday, April 19, 2022 · 7:25 am

Global Supply Chain: A Documentary

While consumers might be sick of hearing “it’s the supply chain” when facing empty shelves while shopping, it is a real problem in business right now.  During the pandemic, demand for virtually everything has expanded. Consumers want more. They want it now. But they can’t get it and are getting frustrated. Marketing professionals need to keep a critical eye on distribution and logistics systems to stay ahead.

While it’s seldom that we would recommend a longer film for a class, the Wall Street Journal recently produced a 54-minute video that illustrates the entire length and breadth of the  supply chain – as well as the issues faced today by businesses at each step of the journey.

Because consumers are now used to one-click shopping, it is easy to forget that millions of products are touched by millions of hands every single day. This video explains the various steps of distribution and how an action at one point begets a chain reaction of events down the line:

  • Container ships
  • Sea conditions
  • Small crews on massive ships
  • Bottlenecks (remember the Evergreen ship disaster?)
  • Crowded ports
  • Dock workers
  • Long-haul truck drivers
  • Weather
  • Road conditions
  • Warehouses
  • Laws and regulations
  • Inventory tracking
  • Employees
  • Last-mile delivery
  • Inflation
  • Off-shore manufacturing
  • And the list goes on….

Watch the documentary and consider what is happening – and what will have to be done differently in the future.

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Poll students before video: Have students select a few common products. What are the steps in distribution – from manufacturing to sales?
  2. What are potential issues throughout the supply chain?
  3. Block out an hour to show the entire video. If that isn’t possible, segments can be shown a few minutes at a time with discussion following.
  4. Video: https://youtu.be/1KtTAb9Tl6E
  5. Work this video into supply chain chapter discussion.
  6. What are suggested improvements?
  7. Alternative idea: Students ca be assigned to watch the video and provide a synopsis of the documentary.

Source:  Wall Street Journal documentary. Why global supply chains may never be the same. (23 March 2022).

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by | Thursday, February 24, 2022 · 7:15 am

What Trends are in Store for us in 2022?

Marketers need to be able to monitor trends with an eye towards predicting what consumers will want next. While it is hard to predict the future, we can examine the current environment with respect to what might happen next.

In its yearly predictions report, international research firm Euromonitor forecasts what consumers will want and need. Companies then can use these predictions to consider the strategies that they might pursue.

Lifestyles in 2021 made radical shifts as populations continued to be impacted by the pandemic. To no one’s surprise, COVID-19 and the Omicron variant continue to be very important to the immediate future.  Marketers and businesses must evolve quickly to keep up with new demands.

Ten  predictions for consumers in 2022 include:

  1. Rethinking the supply chain.
  2. Climate change – a low-carbon world.
  3. Senior citizens and their digital adoptions and usage.
  4. Controlling personal finances.
  5. Prioritizing personal values and individual goals.
  6. The metaverse moves to reality.
  7. Increasing adoption of second-hand and peer-to-peer marketplaces.
  8. City dwellers want advantages of living outside of cities.
  9. The importance of self-care and happiness.
  10. The hybridization of being social.

These trends provide guidance for companies and marketers. Using these, we can gain insight into consumer values and behavior. If 2021 was a year that required us to be adaptable and resilience, then what does 2022 indicate?

What trends will impact you?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. The full Euromonitor report can be accessed at: https://go.euromonitor.com/white-paper-EC-2022-Top-10-Global-Consumer-Trends.html?utm_source=WSJ&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=CT_22_01_18_WP_Top%2010%20GCT%202022%20EN
  2. Discuss the importance of environmental scanning and conducing SWOT analysis.
  3. Show the Euromonitor report to students.
  4. Divide students into teams.
  5. Have each team select one of the top 10 trends and prepare a discussion for the class.
  6. What industries and companies will be most impacted by that trend?
  7. What should marketers do to address the trend?

Source: Alcantara, A-M., (January 17, 2022). Ten trends that will shape the way we shop, eat and live this year, Wall Street Journal; Euromonitor International (January 18, 2022), Top 10 global consumer trends 2022.

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by | Monday, April 5, 2021 · 11:02 am

Suez Canal Blockage: Big Impact on Global Supply Chains

Q: What is a marketing channel, and how important is it?

A: A marketing channel is how companies get products into the hands of consumers and the channel is absolutely critical to sales. No channel. No revenue.

But, before delving into the marketing channel, let’s back up a little and consider the enormous impacts on businesses from the full supply chain – not only moving the finished products to market, but also getting raw materials/semi-finished goods to manufacturers. If these materials don’t make it to companies on time, then there is no way to effectively keep the manufacturing operation at full-force or keep the marketing channel functioning.

Consider also that an effective supply chain is a global issue. An estimated 90 percent of global retail products move around the world in containers through oceans, seas, and canals. One of the most important of these is the Suez Canal – a 120-mile long channel in Egypt, running between the Mediterranean and Red Seas, linking shipping transportation between Africa and Asia. The Suez Canal provides a direct route between the seas and reduces the trip from the Arabian Sea to London by 5,500 miles (8 days). Eight days is a lot of time in today’s global economy, plus fuel costs for ships average $25,000/day! In 2020, more than 18,500 ships traveled the canal.

This March, a container ship named ‘Ever Given’ blocked the Suez Canal after it was knocked sideways by a strong southerly wind.  The ship, at more than one-quarter-mile long and a weight of 224,000-tons, held 20,000 containers worth $9 billion, and was stalled for nearly a week in the canal, holding up billions of dollars of international commerce! More than 400 ships were backed up to use the canal, with dozens of other vessels deciding to forego the canal and take the long way around the Horn of Africa. For those in line at the canal, it could take weeks to get all the ships clear and return to normal operations.

And, the work done to free the ship is a story unto itself. For six days tugboats and dredgers cleared away 30,000-cubic meters of sand and mud from around the ship’s bow and stern. Whew.

Supply chains are critical in marketing!

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss the importance of the supply chain and logistics in marketing.
  2. Show video of the Suez Canal blockage: https://youtu.be/8BSdmIhB9wc (Note: Make sure to look for more recent videos as the story gets updated.)
  3. What is the impact of the Suez Canal blockage on trade?
  4. Have students research how raw materials, semi-finished goods, and finished products move to market.
  5. What commodities and materials are shipped via container and the sea?
  6.  

Source:  Associated Press; CNN; New York Times; Wall Street Journal; other news sources

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