Global Supply Chain Management: “A Look Back, A Look Ahead”
By Thomas Cook, Global Trade
Strategies for Managing the Impact of Freight Disruption
The last two years have created significant challenges for global supply chains. As we enter into 2022 we need to reflect on the last 22 months to better prepare for 2022 and beyond.
The impact to the automotive aftermarket has been unprecedented and significant, fraught with increasing issues in meeting customer and industry demands.
The issues we faced can be summed up as follows: delays, costs, and uncertainty.
As the pandemic grew in February 2020 to year end 2021, every month the problem grew worse in the form of delays, increased costs, and difficulties in demand planning as a result of the continued uncertainties in global markets and the transportation infrastructure moving freight globally.
While every business vertical and country in the world saw disruption, manufacturers and distributors in the automotive aftermarket, with huge dependencies on Asian markets and in just-in-time parts distribution, saw dramatic increases in freight costs and long
