- Two words will define the year ahead: extreme caution. That’s what I’m hearing as I talk to supply chain leaders at Fortune 500 companies around the world — along with belt-tightening, profitability and cash management. — Matt Elenjickal, founder and CEO
- Softness in the freight market will continue for far longer than usual, likely throughout all of 2024, due to persistent, higher interest rates. — Matt Elenjickal, founder and CEO
- Manufacturers will get lean again. The highest interest rates in decades mean that leaders can no longer afford to over-order as a hedge to keep manufacturing lines running. Similarly, product portfolios will be continuously assessed relative to demand and SKUs will be rationalized to optimize inventory carrying costs. Efficiently and effectively managing inventory will require a new degree of agility within the manufacturing supply chain to not only detect, for instance, short-filled orders but also to identify the options that are immediately available to keep needed inventory flowing. — Tom Gregorchik, VP of Industry Strategy, Manufacturing
- Food and beverage companies will race to modernize. January 20, 2026, looms as a critical date for several commodities to be in compliance with the Traceability Records for Certain Foods. This is forcing modernization, process updates and partner collaboration for all commodities included. — Glenn Koepke, VP & GM of Network Collaboration
- Some retailers will shy away from placing big bets, and they will fall behind. While few companies have the scale and infrastructure of Walmart, retailers should still pay close attention to how the company is reengineering its supply chain to fulfill customer needs with a more intelligent and connected omnichannel network, enabled by greater use of data, intelligent software, and automation. Standing pat is not an option as new-and-improved consumer shopping experiences will quickly emerge. — Mark Delaney, VP of Industry Strategy, Retail
- Next year we’ll see faster and better integration of various types of data, allowing companies to plug their logistics data directly into their overall supply chain management. As a result, we can expect to see measurable improvements in AI-enabled forecasting around specific variables, such as shifts in inventory or dwell times. Companies should also be able to better predict savings from logistical adjustments – like changes in drivers’ schedules and routes, for example – and use that to determine optimal pricing that’s as close to the market price as possible. — Bo Tao, Chief Technology Officer
- We are entering 2024 with a number of existing and evolving strains on the supply chain – especially in relation to ocean shipping.
Major East – West tradelanes have both existing and potential risks, for example the draft restrictions being imposed on the Panama canal transits, and the geopolitical and piracy risks in the areas surrounding the Suez canal.
We anticipate that security concerns due to geopolitical instability and piracy result in extension and further introduction of war risk and or security related surcharges. And of further concern would be if the Suez canal transits themselves were interrupted (with potential impacts to the supply chain reminiscent of the blockage of the canal in 2021).
And in 2024 – potential black swan events could therefore have a compound effect due to the already precarious / delicate nature of existing supply chains.
Other security related risks worth monitoring in 2024 will be the potential for further cyber related incidents (such as the recent cyber attack against DP World Australia)
For shippers and forwarders, resilience in their supply chains will therefore be key in 2024, and this resilience will in part require access to timely and reliable transportation data and insights. – Mike DeAngelis, Head of International Solutions
