In an increasingly competitive industry, retailers can no longer rely on providing the right product at the right price, with customer service taking center ground in the battle for consumers’ hard-earned cash.

A year after tariffs on more than 1,300 Chinese goods first sent importers reeling, the news supply chain managers everywhere have been dreading is finally here.

There are trillions of dollars’ worth of unmet needs in the market for supply chain finance.

Business theorists have been talking up the concept of supply chain as a “competitive weapon” for so many years that if it were really happening, they’d have a well-stocked armory by now.

Last year, supply-chain disruptions hit a record high, with North America at the top of the list as the most affected region. 

Imagine that a logistics company learned that a concealed flaw in truck engines was costing up to 100 minutes in lost productivity with every incident – and that the number was continuing to rise.

A 2014 Deloitte survey found that 69 percent of chief procurement officers saw cost reduction as their main priority over the following 12 months. In 2018, the same survey showed that the number had jumped to 78 percent.

When it comes to car transportation services, considerations of price and quality are key. No one wants a car with scratches, paint chips and dents when it arrives.