Supply chain management is an essential component of any business, and disruptions can have far-reaching consequences for operations and profitability. Supply chain disruptions continue to impact businesses of all sizes, but numerous polls show that small businesses are particularly affected by them. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the recent COVID-19 lockdowns in China, have exacerbated the situation in the global supply chain. In this week’s Let’s Talk, we asked industry experts to share their perspectives and best practices for dealing with supply chain disruptions. Our experts discussed various effective techniques for overcoming supply chain challenges and keeping your business running smoothly, from forecasting and inventory management to collaboration and transparency. Let’s Talk.

1. Expert tips to address supply
chain problems
Let's Talk

2. DynamicBusiness.com
The first step to supply chain planning is making sure all teams are on the same page. This is where
connected planning comes in. By connecting stakeholders through access to a single decision making
platform, they can more easily align on how best to tackle supply chain challenges, and remove
departmental siloes.
Businesses should also utilise “what-if” scenario modelling to allow for quicker and more thoughtful
responses to sudden changes. This will help businesses avoid the fallout from preventable shortages and
demand shifts, and drive business resilience.
“To navigate ongoing supply chain disruptions, organisations can thrive by having clear and concise visibility
across the entire network, affording them the ability to make quick decisions, by pulling on the right levers to
avoid delays or unplanned costs due to external, or even internal factors. This is best achieved by
implementing reliable cloud-based platforms:
“Once these steps have been implemented, companies will be better equipped to respond to rapid changes in
demand and supply. With supply chain troubles looking to continue into the new year, it’s important to stay one
step ahead of the curve at all times.”
Principal Supply Chain Solutions
Consultant
Anaplan
Dr Deborah Pike

3. DynamicBusiness.com
“In an increasingly volatile business and geo-political environment across the world, procurement and supply chain
efficiency has become a critical focus area. However, this has also led to the emergence of multiple supply chain
problems that businesses are only too familiar with post-pandemic.
“Supply chain disruptions can be caused due to multiple factors such as labour and material shortages and lack of
visibility, to name a few.
“Businesses can now creatively navigate these challenges by adopting a risk-based approach. By actively
monitoring supply chain flows, modelling consequences of disruption of these flows and proactively evaluating
scenarios based on predictive outcomes, industry leaders can be prepared for the next disruption.
“The adoption of technology should also extend to decision-making, especially with tools like predictive analytics,
scenario management, collaboration platforms, and automation. Leveraging data to proactively drive actionable
insights will give organisations more visibility across their supply chain functions and consequently drive faster and
more efficient business growth.
“In the years to come, industry leaders will be those organisations that have planned for disruption and can swiftly
adapt with confidence to turn disruption into opportunity. Resilient, sustainable and adaptable supply chains of the
future will be driven on this risk-based approach.”
Head of Digital Supply Chain, ANZ
SAP
Adem Adil

4. DynamicBusiness.com
“Supply chain issues have and will continue to impact organisations well into 2023. A solution that can help
overcome this is Supply Chain Control Towers which help businesses remain resilient and enable optimisation
and de-risking of supply. They provide visibility and predictability into the supply chain across vendors,
transport providers, manufacturers, distribution, stores, and dealers.
“Establishing control towers (digital twin) gives full visibility in real-time – into, for example, when each
shipment will arrive. They provide insights that can impact delivery and disrupt operations, such as unexpected
weather, unforeseen global events, to changes in consumer buying behaviour. Data from public domains and
satellite imagery enable proactive risk mitigation.
“Supply Chain Control Towers update organisations on potential delays and effects and highlight how the
business can mitigate the impact. Real-time visibility helps organisations react to circumstances quickly by
allowing them to promise and shift inventory across the network and allocate or ration them, depending upon
individual scenarios.”
Client Partner
Publicis Sapient
Neil Boulton

5. DynamicBusiness.com
Define what (and who) you’ll need to get it done. A cross-functional team must handle this versus piling this on
top of the duties of those who are managing the day-to-day supply chain operation.
Lay the digital foundation to enable visibility. You need visibility of the end-to-end supply chains and ideally you
can help the rest of the business understand the complexity of the supply chain modernisation and
management job at hand.
Enable your supply chain team with and network optimisation solutions, ie. practical tools for visibility,
modelling, digital twins and risk management.”
“When it comes to supply chains, I prefer the term “new reality” versus new normal. There will be nothing “normal”
about supply chains as businesses face the coming years. The new reality is that every aspect of the supply chain
must be examined in detail to ensure it is resilient to ever-present shocks in supply, distribution, and demand.
Supply chain considerations must become central to business strategy. The companies that have analysed their
supply chains’ flexibility and adaptability, understood the potential risks, and built-in the appropriate resilience are
the ones that will have the best chance of managing effectively through future disruption.
“Some tips:
Industry Executive Asia-Pacific
Manufacturing Practice
Hitachi Vantara
Owen Keates

6. DynamicBusiness.com
“Last year, the disruption of the global supply chain caused 30 percent of Australians to be concerned that their
purchases wouldn’t arrive on time for Christmas. To combat last year’s consumer sentiment, Australia Post
recently announced it will start Saturday deliveries to support the peak holiday shopping period. While this
proactive approach is necessary to address supply chain issues on the delivery side, retailers and brands need
to be just as prepared for the influx of sales heading their way.
“To address foreseeable supply chain problems, retailers and brands need to overcommunicate to their
customers during the holiday period. Brands sharing frequent updates with customers regarding promotions,
“order has shipped” notifications, or “track your parcel” links, can appeal to consumer loyalty and alleviate their
delivery concerns. In fact, Emarsys’ Customer Loyalty Index 2022 found that 28 percent of Australians are loyal
to retailers because they feel valued in the brand’s communications and engagements with them.
“While addressing delays in supply chain issues may not be fixable on the retailer’s end, offering information to
the customer, whether it be an email or SMS message, can build trust between brand and customer, and
alleviate the negative impact on perception around supply chain problems.”
Vice President APJ
Emarsys
Kristyn Wallace

7. DynamicBusiness.com
Build a data-rich framework that delivers accurate information when and where it’s needed to optimise supply
chain planning. This involves capturing both structured and unstructured data across multiple sources and
formats, and making it useable and actionable in real time. A data-rich foundation provides the single, reliable
source of truth that supply chains need to evaluate suppliers, coordinate processes, and anticipate bottlenecks.
Automate processes. Ensuring a reliable workflow depends on seamless processes. Manually completing
administrative processes takes people a lot of time to complete and can be error-prone, which drives up costs
and eats into margins, while automation generates operational and cost efficiencies, and reliably delivers
seamless workflows.
Take the next step and adopt end-to-end automation to create a future-ready supply chain that can continually
be proactive, predictable, flexible and scalable to meet constantly changing market needs. Supply chain
professionals spend a lot of time on repetitive, rules-based tasks. When supply chains get bogged down, it can
slow entire economies. Automation is key to building the supply chain of the future that can also keep pace
with technological changes.”
“There are three key steps organisations can take to achieve a more resilient and proactive supply chain:
1.
2.
3.
Area Vice President and Managing
Director, ANZ
UiPath
Mark Fioretto

8. DynamicBusiness.com
Make sure that supply terms are promptly adhered to. Businesses who pay on time, manage the receiving process efficiently
and who have taken the time to nurture their key supplier relationships have had better results. Slow payers, disorganised
logistics and planning and transactional relationships (versus a partnership approach) have not fared as well during this cycle.
Great demand forecasting. Understanding that the pre-Covid trend towards ‘just in time’ stock is no longer viable, some
businesses have increased order size. This has three benefits – locking in pricing to minimise fluctuations; ensuring stock
readiness to meet demand (which in turn means happier customers or better customer acquisition); and better pricing on stock
due to volume discounts (which means better margins or stronger customer acquisition because retail prices haven’t had to
increase to deal with supply-side price escalation).
Excellent cash flow management and prioritisation. With different areas of a business competing for cash, businesses who
have managed well through the supply crunch have diverted cash out of other areas (e.g. delaying a new hire, purchasing new
machinery or property, or replacing an old vehicle) to leverage supply opportunities, improve payment terms to guarantee
supply, ordering in additional stock etc.
“Many businesses have faced challenges with their supply chain over the past two years, fuelled by logistics difficulties,
international border closures and surging customer demand. Some businesses have been more successful at managing the supply
chain challenges than others, largely by focusing on three key ‘basics’:
1.
2.
3.
“All businesses are fundamentally engines that deliver a product or service to a customer who wants those goods or services.
Managing the supply chain well is critical to ensure that customers continue to have access to those goods or services – having
products on shelves is a key competitive advantage when a customer is in the market. Significant growth can come from being
flexible during periods of constrained supply.”
Director
Australian Centre for Business
Growth
Ryan Williams

9. DynamicBusiness.com
“Industry leaders will need to ramp up their risk-mitigation plans, focus on their logistics strategy and invest in
optimal technology to ensure their supply chains are capable of enduring the unpredictably complex issues
that may come their way. It is essential that these supply chains focus on long-term processes instead of
getting through the peak periods which will allow businesses to align their strategies with innovation and
resilience. This ensures they are anticipating potential problems and have a successful strategy in place to
minimise impact and mitigate costs.
“By focusing on long-term processes, logistics strategy and investing in technology, supply chains can
reimagine logistics operations on a new level and tailor inventory and transportation strategies to navigate
difficult landscapes to continuously provide stellar customer service.
“It is also just as crucial to build and maintain relationships with global partners to orchestrate better
movements of goods especially in today’s unpredictable climate.”
Regional Director ANZ
e2open
Paul Soong

10. DynamicBusiness.com
“Planning to perfectly meet demand without waste has been a challenge since the first farmer decided how
many carts they should haul to market. In today’s fast paced, complex environment with sophisticated
interdependencies and increasing levels of disruption throughout the supply chain, planners need systems that
can help them not only accurately anticipate demand in near real time but also take action to adjust in line with
fluctuations or unexpected events with a high degree of agility.
“Agility increases as the accuracy and timeliness of information improves, and this requires support for more
advanced analytics and better integrated systems. Modernising from consensus driven planning processes
and shifting to more dynamic processes which are capable of adapting quickly to changes in pricing,
promotions, demand patterns or other external factors, will prove key to maturing demand management
practices. In turn, this will improve competitiveness as new channels, products and approaches present
opportunities for those who prove to be agile enough.”
Manager: Pre-Sales Support, ANZ
SAS
Ray Greenwood

11. DynamicBusiness.com
Leveraging data insights and data-driven processes to help adapt to sudden changes. Modern cloud-
deployed ERP solutions are invaluable to capture and track data throughout an organisation.
Optimising supply chain agility through a connected supply chain with a single view of orders, shipments,
and inventory and shared digital processes is critical to build agility to respond to disruptions quickly and
efficiently.
Exploring new partnerships for a diversified approach to build a resilient network around sourcing,
manufacturing and distribution.
Building regional sourcing hubs to have more agile supplier networks that can help manufacturers meet
their production targets and sustainability ambitions.
Leveraging automation by investing in fully standardised, digital processes can help manufacturers operate
with far less resources and save costs.”
“The ongoing semiconductor and chip shortage has turned the spotlight on supply chain vulnerabilities and its
impact on everyday commodities – from mobile phones to automobiles. Australian manufacturers can build
resilience to navigate future supply chain disruptions by:
Industry Strategist – Manufacturing
Infor
Matthew Addley

12. DynamicBusiness.com
“When faced with an emergency, such as a blocked shipping route or closed port, manufacturers need to know
what other options are available and divert to them quickly. But the vast complexity of global supply chains
makes them very difficult to visualise.
“One solution is a graph database. This represents all the different elements of the supply chain – products,
suppliers and facilities, and the relationships between them – as nodes and links. It creates a “digital twin”
which can be used to simulate different scenarios and plan contingencies.
“A manufacturer can then make a complex query such as: ‘If supplies of component Y are affected by delays,
what other suppliers are there, and how quickly can they ship replacements?’
“By mapping networks and potential risks, a much more proactive approach can be taken to risk management.”
General Manager ANZ
Neo4j
Peter Philipp

13. DynamicBusiness.com
“Like in many other industries, supply chain issues in construction and engineering are substantially impacting
schedules and costs. In addition, the hefty cost of materials used for construction projects is forcing owners to
rethink how they manage materials.
“According to 2022 Zippia research, only 6% of companies report full visibility on their supply chain, while 69% of
companies do not have total visibility. We are seeing a significant shift as businesses look to the latest in
construction technology, like the Smart Construction Platform, to gain supply chain visibility, and help diagnose and
understand disruptions.
“These technologies can provide the backbone for owners and delivery team’s, creating a vital single source of truth
that help manage uncertainty by controlling time, cost, safety, quality, and more. By ensuring that all stakeholders
of a project are seeing the most up-to-date information and leveraging forward-looking insights through predictive
analytics, teams can respond in a more timely and collaborative manner than ever before possible.”
Vice President JAPAC
Oracle Construction and
Engineering
Callan Mantell

14. DynamicBusiness.com
“Supply chains are under more pressure than ever before, and many organisations are feeling the strain. Labour
shortages, equipment availability, and the ripple effect of global bottlenecks all drive delays, and organisations
must find ways to lessen the impact by driving enterprise mobility and leveraging intelligent analytics.
“By investing in digital, data-driven technologies that prioritise data integrity and adopting near-real-time data
analytics capabilities that provide end-to-end transparency, organisations can streamline business processes,
improve customer confidence, and reduce the risk of costly delays. This single source of truth can provide detailed,
secure insights on intercompany and customer value chains. With end-to-end global bills of materials giving a
clearer view of group costs and profitability, organisations can meet global statutory regulations and compliance
requirements, reducing the risk of costly delays.
“Ultimately, harnessing the power of smart data and robust analytics will allow organisations to embed mobility and
resilience from the top down to better combat the impact of supply chain issues. Embedding live data analysis and
best practice processes across the business, decision-makers can gain complete visibility of business and
customer activities with 360-degree data product view, empowering them to make faster, more accurate
decisions.”
Managing Director and CEO, Asia
Pacific and Middle East
SNP Group
Gerald Faust

15. DynamicBusiness.com
“Solving supply chain woes: Save money and improve efficiency with data.
“Supply chain has been dramatically affected in recent months.
“Telematics data helps you by allowing you to understand the costs at each stage of your project and by helping
you manage operations effectively.
“The real-time data gathered through telematics lets you see where and how assets are used and anticipate
potential problems to deliver a smoother workflow.
“A GPS fleet management system also adds a level of transparency, as businesses can accurately track staff time
and update customers.
With over a million trucks on Australia’s roads, the right technology can help fast-track your business growth by
enabling you to understand challenges, see the opportunities available, and have the insights to overcome issues
before they even arise.
“It’s also important to consider the human factor – the people using this technology and its capabilities to help
them be safer on the roads, be aware of conditions and be protected in times of trouble”
ANZ Marketing Manager
Teletrac Navman
Sarah James

16. DynamicBusiness.com
“The supply chain challenges faced by businesses during COVID were largely concentrated around procurement,
with reduced availability of goods / materials, bottlenecks at origin due to freight issues, and higher sourcing costs
more generally. More recently, this has shifted downstream to issues at destination, including detention and
demurrage, lower warehouse capacity, local driver shortages, and variable demand meaning that businesses are
carrying an increased inventory load. The McGrathNicol Advisory Working Capital Report for 2022 showed that the
average inventory cycle (or DIO) increased by 11.9 days, with ASX-listed businesses in the Retail, Agriculture,
Building Products and Food & Beverage sectors all holding more than 100 days’ worth of inventory in 2022.
“In 2023, addressing supply chain challenges will require sales, operations, finance, and procurement teams to
work closely together, with integrated planning, evaluation of sourcing options, and better use of technology and
dashboards to accelerate reaction times. More strategically, management teams will need to elevate counterparty
risk management, by ensuring that they know their suppliers and their suppliers’ suppliers, seek increased flexibility
in contractual arrangements, and look at partnering with other businesses (even competitors) to leverage freight
and warehousing capacity.”
Partner
McGrathNicol Advisory
Sean Wiles

17. DynamicBusiness.com
“We are in the midst of an economic downturn that will continue to impact the supply chain industry in 2023.
Ecommerce brands need to safeguard increasingly eroding margins – and increasing costs and labour shortages –
whilst continuing to invest in strategic growth channels.
“To run a capital-efficient business in 2023, brands should have better control of demand planning and inventory
forecasting, and strive for best-in-class fulfilment execution.
“To start the new year with good resolutions, we recommend three key areas of focus:
Invest in technology to drive better demand and inventory management, and added services for an optimal
customer experience.
Drive ‘last-mile’ efficiencies through a distributed inventory network to get products closer to end consumers.
Break into new markets to grow new audiences, increase top line revenue, and mitigate stagnant inventory.
“ShipBob’s 2022 State of Fulfilment Report found 56% of brands planned to expand cross-border offerings and 32%
planned to start physically fulfilling orders in new countries.
“Being a global logistics company with 40+ fulfilment centres in six of the biggest ecommerce markets, we’ve seen
Australian brands ship more from across the globe, in particular in North America and Europe, to fulfil domestically
for more consumers and reducing shipping costs and transit times.”
General Manager, Australia,
ShipBob
Guillaume Deront

18. DynamicBusiness.com
“The role of technology in navigating complex supply chains has been proven across a range of industries. For
historically ‘pen & paper’ powered industries like agriculture, communication and collaboration throughout the
supply chain can be convoluted and riddled with gaps. In 2023, the industry should embrace tech capabilities that
can help both individual farmers and supply chain collaborators transcend historical issues.
“While some may take an “ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to more traditional data management practices, many
agriculture organisations lack visibility across the supply chain because these same practices are not conducive to
sharing. It’s also challenging to ensure that every stakeholder is following standardised data collection practices.
By combining external information with internal datasets, producers and customers can work collaboratively to
understand larger, long-term trends for improved business planning. For example, producers and supermarkets can
prepare more proactively for natural disasters which have ongoing impacts on entire supply chains, potentially
preventing produce from reaching the family dinner table.
“Transparency at all points of the supply chain is also particularly important as farmers face intensifying media
scrutiny. Consumer pressure continues to impact all agriculture supply chain participants, with shifting purchase
patterns impacting profitability. Producers who record and share data that validates environmental and animal
welfare will be in the box seat to match the expectations of consumers increasingly invested in the quality and
sustainability of Australian produce.”
Co-Founder and Chief Revenue
Officer
AgriWebb
John Fargher

19. DynamicBusiness.com
“Keeping customers informed through omnichannel communication.
“Enhance communications and reduce supply chain challenges by connecting with your customers anywhere
through an omnichannel strategy. Omnichannel solves consumer issues, supply woes and keeps both the customer
and business informed via a fully integrated contact centre, marketing automation, and chatbot building solutions
powered by a customer data platform.
“By controlling the entire technology stack, you dynamically optimise your message journey to offer faster, more
secure, and more reliable connections to your customers. All with complete transparency.
“Achieve deeper customer engagement across the widest selection of local and global channels, including: SMS,
RCS, WhatsApp, voice, video, email and the most popular chat apps to foster loyal customers and reach them in
their most used platforms.
“Integrate any communication channel or module into your business workflows by using Infobip’s flexible and
programmable API stack.
“By equipping a correct omnichannel strategy, you are poised to accelerate your customer building and retention.
This end-to-end execution allows for your business to identify and solve potential issues relating to customer
dissatisfaction and supply chain woes.”
Head of ANZ Region
Infobip
Jonathan Ryan

20. DynamicBusiness.com
“Businesses are facing some of the worst supply chain disruptions of the past 50 years, thanks to the lingering
effects of the pandemic and ongoing geopolitical uncertainties.
“To predict and tackle issues as they arise, businesses need access to a clear and real-time overview of all the data
related to the supply chain. However, only a small fraction of businesses currently have this visibility.
“Real-time data analysis is critical to keep track of inventory and optimise existing processes. For example, it can
help identify potential risks, reveal cost savings and better manage demand without impacting the bottom line.
“With the support of a data analytics platform like Tableau, businesses can empower staff with the insights needed
to make informed decisions. Tableau can also seamlessly integrate with Salesforce CRM capabilities to improve
forecasting, risk management and supplier evaluation.
“Businesses shouldn’t wait to see supply chain issues before they take action, but instead harness the power of
data to identify risks and pivot faster.”
Tableau ANZ Country Manager and
AVP
Salesforce
Sascha Ambrose

21. DynamicBusiness.com
“Not long ago, retailers were struggling with bare shelves brought-up by global supply chain bottlenecks and
unprecedented consumer demand fuelled by COVID-19 lockdowns. Now, as consumer spending habits shift, many
retailers are dealing with the exact opposite problem: excess inventory. At the same time, retailers have nowhere to
store this inventory, with industrial and logistics vacancies at record lows in Australia.
“To reduce friction in supply chains, retailers must forecast all drivers of demand including in-store purchases,
online fulfilment, and returns for every SKU. Demand planning software is one way to tackle supply chain issues,
helping retailers pull in data across POS, inventory, product lifecycle and production lead times, as well external
demand signals such as seasonality, inflation, interest rates and other market conditions.
“Retailers should also consider outsourcing warehousing and order fulfilment requirements to a third-party
ecommerce fulfilment provider. Third-party fulfilment providers can not only improve delivery times and lower
distribution costs, but also help retailers to effectively manage stock locations and scale the volume of inventory
quickly and efficiently as needed. This means more accurate inventory forecasting and tracking, less time
managing stock and more time delivering an exceptional customer experience.”
Founder and Managing Director
eStore Logistics
Leigh Williams

22. DynamicBusiness.com
“Building a robust global supply chain strategy requires diligent research and planning. As companies innovate and
create new products and solutions, this requires extremely close liaison between R&D teams and supply chain
teams. By collaborating, it ensures companies have greater foresight over products in development and have
sufficient lead time to source the best component suppliers available.
“When companies have sufficient lead time, they can be more rigorous in selecting and evaluating suppliers which
is essential to having confidence that they meet certain standards. In addition, the extra time allows for the auditing
of various aspects of a supplier such as disposal of waste and where raw materials come from, to ensure ESG
standards.
“In circumstances where suppliers meet most but not all of our selection criteria, this then gives time to work with
them and improve those aspects that are currently holding them back rather than starting the sourcing process
again. This ensures the right suppliers are selected, reducing the potential for supply chain disruptions.”
Regional Director, Oceania
Axis Communications
Wai King Wong

23. DynamicBusiness.com
“We’re strong believers in supply chain resilience through digital transformation, and we’ve seen this time and again
with customers who wish to adopt e-commerce but aren’t sure where to get started.
“We recommend a three-prong approach for strengthening supply chain resilience: start by optimising internal
processes, then move to strengthening key relationships, and finally, ensure you’re leveraging data available to
make strategic business decisions.
“An integrated e-commerce solution is a natural fit for B2B organisations dealing with supply chain issues. That’s
because a connection to ERP makes it easy to execute all three of the above strategies. You can optimise
processes, access insightful data on your web store, and strengthen relationships by staying transparent about
stock levels and shipping delays.
“These are essential components of keeping both your customers and staff feeling secure at a time where
confusion and misinformation is more the norm.”
Head of APAC
Sana Commerce
Marcus McNamara

24. DynamicBusiness.com
“As enterprises continue to invest in digital transformation initiatives, it has not only empowered them with the
technology to streamline their operations, but has also made them an attractive target for cyber attacks. Now more
than ever, malicious groups are capitalising on firms’ oversight of cyber risks associated with cloud-based
technologies – especially those used within their supply chains. These attacks on the supply chain leverage poorly
defended access vectors and offer attackers a unique opportunity to infect many organisations with ransomware
through a single supplier. Trend Micro recently found ransomware to be present in 25% of data breaches, noting a
13% year-on-year increase.
“This increased reliance on cloud-based technologies means it is important for firms to invest in supply chain
security as well as back-end infrastructure. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to minimise cyber risks, however,
implementing best practices can help enterprises create a safer supply chain. Supply chains are too often nebulous
and ill-defined. The key is implementing cybersecurity platforms to gain a comprehensive understanding of your
supply chain, and using this data to mitigate threats before they come to fruition.”
Technical Director ANZ
Trend Micro
Mick McCluney

25. DynamicBusiness.com
Expose the hidden costs: Delivery transport costs can easily blow out, with many hidden costs a real problem –
for example, every day a delivery vehicle is not being used it is costing you. How much exactly? It depends. A
good first step is an honest, impartial audit to expose the full costs of your transport solution.
Strive for flexibility: Flexible, responsive logistics is key – achieving this comes down to the ability and mix of
your suppliers. Don’t be afraid to experiment along the way to find the right structure for you.
Track and measure your performance: Efficiency can be maintained by using telematics technology to track
and measure performance across your supply chain – and it’s most effective when you have the flexibility to
make changes quickly.”
“Delivery transport is one of the most stubbornly expensive parts of the supply chain – a top five business cost for
companies which rely on deliveries. But it’s also an area where business has some control to improve their
efficiency, provided they take the following steps:
CEO
Ontime Delivery Solutions
Walter Scremin

26. DynamicBusiness.com
Automate. Do some housekeeping of the tools you are using. Switching to the best technology for your
business can make for better inventory tracking, planning and cutting costs. Planning and automating can also
mean being first in line for suppliers, minimising repeat ordering, enhancing stock and people management, and
supporting long-term scalability.
Explore. Relationships with current suppliers don’t need to be set in stone, neither do the goods and services
that you procure. Take the time to form new relationships and source similar or like products elsewhere. You’ll
feel better about your decisions, and keep your partners honest.
Data. Not just your own, but production, supplier and delivery data. Understanding the big picture can help you
avoid gridlock, and inform your options.
“The pandemic has really obstructed the supply chain issue across multiple industries, and while there may be
some things that you can’t control, you can make adjustments to minimise the impact on your business now, and
move forward.
“Open communication with your clients about the obstructions and your solutions are a good idea too. It promotes
trust and can alleviate headaches and maintain relationships.”
CEO
Vital Addition
Lachlan Grant

27. DynamicBusiness.com
“Build dynamic supply chain design capabilities and increase optionality. When the supply chain is disrupted, do
you know your alternative options to retain service at an understood cost to serve across your end to end
supply chain? As the pace and frequency of disruptions intensify, the ability to update models and run
scenarios, Digital Twin capabilities and ‘Continuous Supply Chain Optimisation’ are more important than ever.
Be faster than competitors. As disruptions strike, being the fastest to go to market for spot buying available
capacity is critical. Ensure the technology and process foundation is in place for dynamic sourcing.
Extend Business Continuity Planning to your supply chain. Supply chain digital models must be stress tested for
extreme disruptions.
Balance the desire to have an inventory buffer to offset disruptions, with plans for shifting that inventory in a
timely manner to ensure there isn’t a significant amount of working capital locked up in the warehouse.
Ensure that business has visibility across business spend – procurement, accounts payable, staffing – for
effective budget, contract and inventory management.
Invest in supply chain tech, people and processes to design better supply chains plus improve supplier
collaboration and relationships.”
Regional Vice President, Solution
Delivery, ANZ, Japan and China
Coupa
Henry Brunekreef

28. DynamicBusiness.com
“Navigating supply chain issues? Automation holds the key. Supply chains worldwide are facing endless
bottlenecks, skills shortages and natural disasters are affecting transport systems, and the lack of supplies can
grind operations to a halt.
“While businesses tend to focus on the physical and logistical aspects of the supply chain, those looking to master
supply and demand and ride out ongoing turbulence can’t afford to overlook internal blind spots.
“So, how can you take back control and transform financial processes? The answer lies in automation technology,
providing real-time, accurate supply chain information.
“Intelligent Automation (IA) is more than automating manual tasks; it offers a continual process of improvement
rather than single-point solutions. Business users can simply take control and make data-backed changes to create
a better work process.
“Automating digital workflows also helps when staff availability is low, keeping processes moving and customers
updated on order progress.
“With better insight into how your business spends money, you can work more efficiently with procurement and
provide detailed and reliable data for order placement.
“Kofax technology can help organisations minimise the impact of both supply chain and staffing problems, getting
products and services to customers faster and improving profits.”
Senior Vice President
Kofax
Matthew Thomson

29. DynamicBusiness.com
Take currency risk out of the equation; an OFX Global Currency Account, for example, gives you access to nine
virtual currency accounts, allowing you to make and receive payments in local currencies and link up to
marketplaces in the country you’re selling into.
Hedging tools, such as Limit Orders, allow you to set a target rate without watching the markets, helping you
stay in budget by minimising currency exposure and assisting with long-term financial planning.
Engaging with an FX specialist can help you understand how currency fluctuations and the flow-on effects of
supply chain problems on your overseas costs impact your business, whilst helping you identify ways to stay
ahead in the market.”
“Supply chain pandemic aftershocks continue to be felt by many businesses confronting the imbalance between
supply and demand. Not to mention the difficulty of attempting to navigate shipping delays, and currency
fluctuations when importing goods and services.
“Having greater certainty over offshore expenses by limiting exposure to currency fluctuations (particularly with the
seesawing of the USD against the AUD) can ensure businesses can keep costs in budget without needing to tighten
margins or pass on costs to customers.
“To help minimise your business’s vulnerability to international supply chain uncertainty, here are some tips to help
keep costs in budget:
Head of Australia and New Zealand
OFX
Michael Judge

30. DynamicBusiness.com
Have your emergency plan documented. Scenarios and options detailed.
Evaluate the market. Talk to suppliers, partners, and other businesses.
Build up your stock inventory.
Identify backup and alternative supplier options.
Diversify your suppliers and source from different regions, states, or countries.
Partner with a reliable logistics company and look at alternative options.”
“When everything is going well, the supply chain is like a well-oiled machine for small retailers. A customer goes
into the store, finds a product, chooses the colour, size, and brand and buys the item off the shelf. When online
shopping, the customer places the order on the e-commerce store and receives a delivery usually within a few days.
“But when it’s disrupted by events like floods, fires, freight delays or events like the Covid-19 global pandemic, the
availability and consistent supply of items is suddenly severely impacted.
“Supply disruptions happen all the time, usually only causing small inconveniences. By having a detailed plan with
alternative supply solutions, diversification and good cash flow, you can mitigate the impacts on your small retail
business even during unprecedented times.
“Here are six things you need to consider in planning for supply chain disruptions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
General Manager, Strategic
Procurement
Leading Edge Retail
Lee Scott

31. DynamicBusiness.com
“Organisations need to bridge decision-making across their supply chain operations, finance, and sustainability
functions to manage demand volatility and supply constraints, as well as production scheduling and distribution.
The need for available trustworthy real-time data is mission critical.
“As a fast-growing SaaS (software as a service) company, Stemly has built an enterprise decision intelligence
platform to help executives make better and faster decisions by decoding data science to automate forecasting
and optimization for timely information. An essential aspect of its platform is the ML-based insights it provides.
However, ML needs data, which is why data integration – the ability to connect to a variety of data sources, ingest
that data in not only batch, but real-time – is critical.
“This is why we leverage SnapLogic to rapidly ingest data in a quality manner by transforming and cleaning the data
before it comes into our data lake. With SnapLogic, we have the ability to build our data pipelines declaratively,
rather than with code, and that allows for more reliable, resilient and reproducible deployments, which reduces our
time to market considerably.
“SnapLogic’s cloud-native nature and functional capabilities also enable Stemly to enjoy both a hassle-free and
maintenance-free mode of operation. I’m really looking forward to our joint collaboration and the future of our
relationship as we take on an increasing number of big-name customers with even bigger data problems to solve.”
CTO
Stemly
Abhimanyu Prabhavalkar

32. DynamicBusiness.com
“Cross-border payments are integral to international business operations and are necessary in a global
economy. However, foreign payments can be slow and complex and lead to supply chain disruptions. In some
instances, cross-border payments can take several days, passing through numerous financial institutions
before reaching the end recipient.
“To ease supply chain challenges, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) must seek innovative payment
strategies to make cross-border payments in a frictionless manner. There are several tips SMEs can use to
deal with supply chain problems including:
Setting up an adequate multi-currency budget with a flexible approach
Having an ongoing strategy and plan incorporating risk management strategies
Investing in innovative technology to streamline cross-border payments
Leveraging a specialist cross-border payment solutions vendor
“As cross-border payments grow in popularity, moving beyond legacy technology in favour of modern solutions
is the key to making payments efficient, fast, and transparent, minimising supply chain disruptions.”
APAC Managing Director
Corpay Cross-Border Solutions
David Britten

33. DynamicBusiness.com
Diversify your supply chain by establishing relationships with alternative suppliers.
Move from ordering materials ‘just in time’ to holding greater stock levels.
Prioritise ordering materials as early as possible to allow a buffer for any unexpected delays.
Use a risk assessment approach to help prioritise which potential supply chain issues are most pressing.
Develop contingency plans, such as researching whether substitute products are available in the market.
Manage customer expectations by being transparent and realistic about timeframes and potential delays.”
“Since the onset of the pandemic, the construction and trade services industry has experienced the impacts of
supply chain disruptions and material shortages. Businesses have simultaneously faced delays in sourcing
materials and increased material costs. These issues have created more challenging conditions for many
businesses that previously relied on materials being readily available and predictably priced for their day-to-day
operations.
“Below are our top tips that we have found helpful in tackling supply chain issues:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Business Manager
Conrad Martens plumbing and hot
water
Angus Martens

34. DynamicBusiness.com
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