WITH health restrictions easing and businesses slowly getting back up, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), through one of its sessions on Friday, stressed the importance of managing the supply chain to its members.
In the plenary session titled “Supply Chain Scenario and Solutions in Times of Disruption,” Procurement and Supply Institute of Asia (Pasia) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Charlie Villaseñor, described on how businesses used to take the supply chain for granted until the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine became reality.
“When something goes wrong in the final delivery of the product, you do not usually blame the sales people nor the audit people. You find the person in charge of the supply chain and put the hot water on that person,” Villaseñor said. “But during this time, we have a different context and realized that the supply chain is one of the most important factors in a business.”
He also explained that the supply chain is not simply logistics, but rather the opposite as the logistics is actually part of the supply chain as a whole. Simply put, a supply chain is a network of individuals and companies who are involved in creating a product and delivering it to the consumer.
This is why Villaseñor insists that supply chain management is a crucial process because an optimized supply chain results in lower costs and a more efficient production cycle.
However, in the current environment, business supply chains are very constrained, especially in the micro, small, and medium enterprises as they are feeling the impact of shortages in the supply of raw materials and inputs.
“There are several issues in the supply chain and these continue having effects in all businesses…. This is due to volatility, increasing costs, transportation bottlenecks, manpower shortages, post-pandemic challenges, digitization and automation challenges, as not all companies can easily adapt, corruption and cybersecurity, and various geopolitical tensions,” Villaseñor enumerated.
He also insists that several challenges still persist despite the gradual opening of the economy as there is still a lack of supply chain management priority at the national level, the lack of visible supply chain structures and unpredictable landscape of the industry, rising supply chain complexity, the supply chain consistency of both the public and private sector in the Philippines being low, and various financial and capital issues.
Ultimately, Villaseñor wants the government to take the initiative and incorporate the supply chain in its lists of plans as its importance is very crucial now more than ever.
“If it is possible, I would like the government to create a focal point that oversees supply chain regulations which focuses on procurement transparency, and fast-track various supply chain initiatives such capability development of professionals, supply chain digitization, and better financing and business allocation from large corporations,” Villaseñor concluded.
