DHL (FWB: DPW) North America showcased its Resilience360 platform at the 2019 LINK Conference in Orlando. The platform, launched in 2011 in response to the disruptions caused by the tsunami that devastated parts of Japan, helps customers of DHL visualize their product supply chain and navigate the risk of disruptions.
Freightwaves staff spoke with Lesley Hume, director of business development at DHL Resilience360 – Americas, on the performance of Resilience360 in 2018 and its application in the future of the supply chain.
“[Third-party logistics] 3PL service providers like DHL are always looking for ways to add value to their customer base to differentiate themselves,” said Hume. “Resilience360 is a real differentiator because it combines a holistic view of risk on top of our customers’ infrastructure within the U.S. For example, one of the largest sources of events that we saw in 2018 was ground-to-road disruption, so that impacts any type of retailer in North America or wherever.”
Hume said that North American road disruption observed by Resilience360 was caused by problems with infrastructure such as traffic jams. Additionally, international trade posed a challenge for international supply chains.
“One of the top challenges for 2019 that we see is continued border issues, whether that be in Europe because of Brexit or in North America with cross-border trade.”
“One issue that people don’t think of is the dependence on very agile supply chains around raw materials and demand for things like lithium-ion batteries. Those batteries are a huge part of every cell phone and so many different types of products. One of the main raw materials for batteries is cobalt, and two-thirds of the world’s supply of cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is a very destabilized nation.”
Hume also talked about how risk is motivating customers to rely on Resilience 360 to visualize and address supply chain disruptions.
“Many customers that we talk to don’t know where to begin, because they have a lot of systems in place that manage risk. Risk is increasing globally, and supply chains within retail in particular have been forced to do their sourcing and procurement in high-risk environments. There’s the ‘Amazon effect’ for retailers. Customers want immediate visibility, they want to know where all their shipments are, and they want to know if there’s a problem.”