The trend to offer almost immediate delivery of orders is fast becoming global, says Craig. "We have seen stories about same-day delivery being offered in Madrid, in Germany, in 43 cities in China - the demand for immediacy is moving faster than supply chains can keep up," he says.
This shift will force companies to dramatically rethink their supply chains, says Craig. "Executives will need to take a clean sheet of paper and say, 'how do I serve my customer now?' Today's supply chains are based on underlying assumptions that no longer are valid. Rather than trying to fix what exists, they need to start over and think of a new way to do it."
Inventory velocity will need to be squared and time compressed even more, Craig says. “Companies will need to move their supply chain upstream to suppliers, not just a collaboration but actually moving the supply chain up, integrating processes and technology to levels that don’t now exist.”
The main risk for businesses today is that they will be too slow to change and will be left behind, he says "I have seen online sales forecast at $7tr in five years, and I think that is low."
