Supply Chain Management has become a crucial part of most business today, helping ensure that all moving parts of a business run smoothly and efficiently. Supply chains are under constant stress. Weather conditions, government policy, consumer preferences, and labor strikes, among other such factors, all contribute to the disruption and havoc that are caused daily to the plethora of components within any individual supply chain. The COVID 19 pandemic exacerbated each of these areas of concern, and brought out multiple other unforeseen ones, in an era where supply chains operate through a complex interconnected global network.
It is these issues that lead to a demand in the market for companies such as FreightWaves, a forecast company providing supply chain organizations with fundamental data and context that help benchmark, analyse, monitor, and forecast activity, pricing, and risks in a $9.6 trillion global logistics industry. With the vast number of inputs involved between different manufacturers and service provider until ready for consumption, one hiccup in the process can lead to a domino effect that can have severe consequences. The potential for such consequences allows companies such as FreightWaves to charge a premium, making them the profitable of the bunch within the industry as a whole.
Working on such high margins allowed them to transform their business from last resorts as and when needed to companies that would anticipate incidents that would dictate changes in demand and supply within the logistics world. Data analytics and advanced algorithms help understand and predict economic and seasonal cycles, allowing for operational efficiency while still working on high margins.
COVID 19 however, led to an unprecedented era where no data, formula, or algorithm could accurately predict what was to come. What it did expose however, was the lack of energy and resources being directed towards supply chain management on a global scale. It did lead to people and organizations to educate themselves and their employees to understand how pivotal the management of end to end supply chain management is and can be in times of uncertainty.
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