FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: How are retailers responding to supply chain disruptions?
DETAILS: In this fireside chat, FreightWaves reporter Grace Sharkey and Jonathan Gold, the National Retail Federation’s vice president of supply chain and customs policy, discuss how increasing e-commerce sales and capacity crunches are changing retailers’ logistics strategies. Gold dives into how port congestion, automation and acquisitions have changed how retailers design their supply chains.
SPEAKER: Gold is vice president of supply chain and customs policy for the National Retail Federation (NRF). Gold joined the NRF in October 2007 and is responsible for representing the organization before Congress and the administration on supply chain and customs issues impacting the retail industry.
KEY QUOTES FROM GOLD:
“For years, we have talked about the lack of available data to help with port operations. Ports are basically a black box when it comes to available information. … So we should be creating something like a national freight portal that all supply chain stakeholders can feed their information to and get a better understanding and visibility to allow them to do better freight planning and better resilience efforts.”
“Retailers are really taking a look at their supply chains and making sure they have a risk mitigation strategy in place to adjust for anything that comes down the pike. Are there opportunities to shift sourcing nearshore or on shore or somewhere else? They are also looking at their port strategy and not solely relying on the west coast.”
“We went through a period where retailers brought logistics in-house, and then we went to where everyone outsourced it and now we are seeing everyone bringing it back in again. It really depends on where they see their strengths and weaknesses. … A lot of retailers are going to be looking at their supply chains and see where they can have more leverage and control.”
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