The Friday Five: Companies are investigating their competitive advantage

Walmart stands up container fleet, uses drivers for drayage [Supply Chain Dive]

Understandably so, there’s a trend for companies to have control over their entire supply chain. Supply Chain Dive discusses how Walmart explored this path and launched its own fleet of intermodal containers and begun using its own drivers to move containers from rail hubs to Walmart stores. The pilot has gone surprisingly better than expected and they have reduced uncertainty, increased efficiency and saved significant time. Walmart hasn’t disclosed details on the scope of this program, but you can expect other companies will follow suit.
‍

Four Ways Amazon Could Continue Shaking Up Supply Chain Trends In 2019 And Beyond [Forbes]

Due to the significant emphasis on digitization over the years, consumer demands have rapidly increased and companies have to quickly adapt to these demands just to stay afloat. Amazon has quickly navigated through this and their disruptive influences have forced widespread reevaluation and reinvention across all organizations. It’s pretty wild that a company that derived from just selling books is now a risk for almost every stock and sector. Forbes examines how Amazon is catalyzing change in the supply chain and anticipates what that will entail. Do you think Forbes’ predictions are accurate? Read on to learn more of the ‘Amazon Effect.’
‍‍

‍Gravity Supply Chain Solutions: US retailers not fully embracing supply chain digitization [Supply Chain Digital]

Despite the universal recognition of supply chain digitization being key to efficiency and value. 49% of retailers are yet to begin planning for a digitization project With the apparent trend of the rise of retail bankruptcies, it is astounding that more US retailers aren’t proactive enough to learn from their mistakes. The simple truth is that retailers that don’t adapt quickly enough inevitably fail to compete. We do everything in the digital world. Consumers expect nothing else. So why are supply chains operating in obsolete conditions?f not now, when? Read more on this in Supply Chain Digital’s article.
‍

Europe Has America’s Globalization Problems on Steroids [The Wall Street Journal]

‍Wall Street Journal discusses how the eurozone is grappling with a slowdown in China, but its regional divergences are a much bigger long-term issue. Countries are morphing into large economic peripheries lagging a few ultra-productive centers. This problem is particularly intractable where language and cultural differences disincentives workers to move as well. Necessary steps toward integration may even aggravate it: A more consolidated European banking union is likely to focus credit on fewer regions than before. Read on to get a deeper lens into this impending issue.
‍

The Falsified Medicines Directive: securing the pharmaceutical supply chain ecosystem [Supply Chain Digital]

Supply Chain Digital discusses the pharmaceutical medicine supply chain changes that are occurring due to intense scrutiny over the years of countless high-profile incidents involving counterfeit drugs. In February, the European Union Parliament acted accordingly and passed the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) to increase the security of the manufacturing and delivery of medicines across Europe and protect patients and prevent falsified medicines from entering the supply chain. How this will work will be interesting to monitor and see how other countries will follow suit.

‍

‍

Enjoying these Friday Five blogs? Don’t forget to check out last week’s news and stay tuned for next week's insights!