Lisa Anderson

Companies that find solutions to create sustainable and profitable manufacturing operations and extended supply chains will surge past their competition.

Distributors are strategically leveraging artificial intelligence, advanced technologies, and predictive analytics to navigate emerging risks, capitalize on new opportunities, and drive sustained business performance and profitability.

As geopolitical unrest, natural disasters, and shifting trade policies upend global logistics, resilient companies are transforming their supply chains to gain competitive advantage and ensure growth.

Like almost every manufacturing sector, the building and construction products industry generally worked through their backlog, focused on margins, and experienced an overall drop in customer demand last year, yet expect a positive year ahead. 

Proactive manufacturers are leaning on predictive demand planning processes to estimate and get ahead of changing capacity and down-the-line supply chain needs.

Risks abound in the global supply chain and goods movement systems. The only successful strategy to thrive is to create a resilient supply chain. According to the Global Port Tracker (GPT) report from Hackett Associates and the National Retail Federation (NRF), the specter of labor strife and new tariffs, along with strong sales, is driving U.S. retailers to keep imports surging through the spring. 

According to a McKinsey study, investment in supply chain digitization is slowing down after rapid growth in 2020-2023. On the other hand, the McKinsey Global Supply Chain Leader Survey finds that nine out of 10 respondents continue to experience supply chain challenges. 

Opportunities to increase market share will increase when companies are pre-positioned for growth in a resilient and scalable way.

During uncertain times, manufacturers can adopt new methods to create stability and deliver sustainable bottom-line results.

Since logistics is dependent on a system of systems, the system is only as strong as its weakest link.