Re-evaluate your supply chain to survive, DHL warns

Global logistics giant claims a need for a ‘significant re-evaluation' in traditional supply chains when looking to grab a share of emerging market growth

There is a $30tn (£18tn) emerging IT market for the taking, but to do so requires a significant overhaul of the supply chain, DHL has claimed.

The German logistics giant has commissioned research entitled: Path to Growth: Shaping Tech Sector Supply Chains in Emerging Markets, which advises against a one-size-fits-all approach to the supply chain.

According to DHL, a "regionalised global supply chain" model is emerging to cope with the shortened product life cycles and shifting demographics of the technology sector.

Lisa Harrington, associate director of the SupplyChain Management Center and author of the report, said: “Emerging markets present significant opportunities for the technology sector. But combine the unknown of operating in a new market with varying levels of infrastructure and unpredictable demand growth with the pressures of the sector – including expectations for effective service, product innovation, competitive price and personalisation – and you have the definition of uncertainty.

"These risks are unique to each market and companies therefore lack the familiarity that comes with doing business across different established markets."

She added: “To operate profitability in the face of uncertainty, companies must counter and manage risk by adopting supply chain best practices, like the regionalised global supply chain model. In doing so, supply chain networks are best placed to respond to the specific market’s own variables, issues and challenges while also competing well with local manufacturers.”

Jan Thido Karlshaus, vice president of strategy and business development, global technology at DHL Supply Chain, said: “Emerging markets were once seen primarily as a place for sourcing products, based on a low-cost labour play. That paradigm has changed. Emerging markets are fast becoming engines of demand, a trend that carries tremendous implications for technology sector supply chains.

“The technology sector requires developing a scalable, flexible supply chain that meets the regulation and policy standards of every local market and is precisely engineered to support the divergent needs of these highly individualised markets.”