What's Next. Redesigning the Supply Chain in the New Era of Manufacturing.

The scenario

Today's supply chains are affected in various ways by the global ecosystem of which they are a part. The challenges and risks faced by today's manufacturing supply chains are many and varied, and while not all of them are new or unexpected, nevertheless, a rapid succession of disruptive events concentrated in such a short period of time is unprecedented in recent history.
The COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and increasingly frequent extreme weather events are external shocks that have threatened the global economy and contributed to the acceleration of trends already visible in society and shaping our future.

Among the major megatrends shaping the current scenario, we can see:

• The shift from globalization, toward so-called “slowbalization,” that is, the slowing down of the process of global integration of economies
• The generalized rise in inflation levels
• The impact on producers of protectionist policies
• The consolidation of the concept of sustainability as the new status quo
• The evolution of consumer habits and behavior
• Changes in the workforce

Although the manufacturing industry has shown incredible resilience and is now recovering rapidly, to maintain the momentum, manufacturers must accelerate the pace of industrial transformation and design supply chains suitable for an era of economic, geopolitical and social upheaval.

World Economic Trends

The end of hyper-globalization

In the past fifteen years, global economic integration has faltered. While the global financial crisis triggered the process, the rise of nationalist policies and the pandemic of COVID-19 have consolidated it.

The Rise of Protectionism

China has been the main target of protectionist measures because of its dominance in strategic sectors, ongoing supply chain disruptions, and underlying political tensions that have increased the risks of dependence on Chinese suppliers.
The reason China is the main target of protectionist measures is simple: the country enjoys dominance in strategic sectors such as semiconductors and the supply of all 16 rare earth metals that are strategically critical because they are needed for the production of technological equipment.

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