Agility propels to tackle supply chain disruption.

What would it take for global supply chains to optimize thier resilience and efficency in the aftermaths of the pandemic and the ongoing geopolitical conflict due to the Russia Ukraine war.

As companies around the world optimize thier global supply chains it becomes increasingly essential to overcome supply chain vulnerabilities, revive market links, maximize  digital transformation capabilities, and prioritize customer centricity, yet more vital becomes the need to focus on agility.

To shed light on the critical challenges facing global supply chains in this climate of persistent volatile unpredictability, we speak to Madhav Thapar, Vice President South Asia Middle East Africa at C.H. Robinson on the trends and practices that influence agility in global supply chains.

 What’s changed at CH Robinson since Covid19? 

We at C.H Robinson have leveraged our global suite of multi-modal services, technology, information advantage and great people around the globe to remain agile and help our customers do the same. Agility has been key in successfully navigating market volatility and supply chain disruption. Proactive and transparent communication has also been key. Our efforts have been recognised in various forums, including receiving the NexBrand’s Icons of Trust Award which celebrated C.H. Robinson as changemaker in the logistics segment in India. It has been most gratifying to receive customer loyalty, and we continue to services we can offer in the region.

Today, we have embraced the new normal with no compromise on quality , employee satisfaction or our growth plans.

On the advent of technolog and how companies are navigating to make the best of AI in global logistics and supply chain? 

Predictive Analytics are already the present. We have always been at the forefront of bringing forth tools that merge technology and innovation. Our focus is on providing technological solutions that provide strong, competitive capabilities suitable to our partners. The intention is to leverage the true power of science and machine learning to ring in maximum benefit.

Your thoughts on what’s next in the logistic sector?

Continued and accelerated digitalization. A high demand for skilled human capital. These two are not contradictory. More adoption of technology actually leads to greater trade volumes and more job creation at higher skill levels.

As for the more specific questions of capacities and freight costs, these will continue to be determined by demand and supply as well as geo political scenarios.

Are you pursuing any sustainable logistics and infrastructure practices to help stakeholders realize their carbon zero aspirations? 

When new needs emerge, we find solutions for them. When our research last year revealed that  customers’ three greatest pain points were capacity, sustainability and market volatility, we created industry-first technology to solve for all three:

• Procure IQ to analyze shippers’ freight and show the optimal way to purchase transportation in each of their specific freight lanes instead of using a one-size-fits-all RFP.
• Emissions IQ to give shippers instant visibility into their carbon emissions and instantly surface opportunities for reduction.
• Market Rate IQ to show shippers which factors in their U.S. spot pricing are market-driven and which they can control to uncover savings opportunities.