Disruptions continue to worry procurement teams

When one year passes to another, it is often advisable to leave the past in the past. But for supply chains, that is not possible. Disruptions that plagued organizations in 2021 remained in 2022. They continued into 2023 and accelerated in 2024. Now, 2025 has arrived, and geopolitical tensions, climate risks, labor unrest, and raw materials shortages remain.

The past is now the future for supply chain disruptions. So, what can procurement organizations do to minimize disruptions? It starts with analyzing your supply chain resilience, Blue Yonder advises in a new whitepaper.

“It’s more apparent than ever that navigating these challenges lies, in a significant way, in how well your systems are connected. Companies prioritizing seamless communication between their systems are in a better position to survive and thrive, delivering better and more reliable service to their customers,” the whitepaper noted.

 

Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Executive Survey found 84% of companies faced disruptions in 2024 and 46% reported shrinking profit due to increasing costs of materials, labor and/or transportation.

Disruptions are the top concern

Natural disasters, transportation-related issues, and other disruptions are the top concerns for procurement leaders according to a recently released survey from Gartner.

The survey of 258 sourcing and procurement leaders, conducted from June to July 2024, found that 42% named supply disruptions as their top concern.

“CPOs’ concerns about supply disruptions reflect the often unpredictable nature and potentially existential impacts of these events,” said Andrea Greenwald, senior director analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice. “They are coming to understand that the reactive measures they have employed to manage risks over the past four years will not be sufficient for the next four.”

Mitigating disruptions

There are so many possible disruptions today, that Maersk suggests organizations prepare “for anything instead of everything.” The global logistics firm notes that contingency planning is key, and that includes working with partners that have insights into potential changes such as labor disruptions at ports and tariffs.

“In 2025, businesses should seek to partner with a logistics partner that offers risk and disruption navigation through pre-planned procedures, risk assessments and alternative solutions, such as a Supply Chain Resilience Model, can help strengthen a business’ reaction and planning for the future,” it notes.

Richard Barnett, CMO of Supplyframe, says that businesses can look for identify components that pose “lower levels of risk, cost, availability, or general ease of sourcing. Part of this effort will also be driven by the continued process of nearshoring as organizations seek to localize their supply base to reduce risk,” he says.

The biggest risk isn’t any one risk, but rather the vast number of risks in 2025.

“What was considered global ‘black swan’ events just two years ago are now a constant consideration for supply chain planning and execution,” explains Stephen Dyke, principal consultant manager, FourKites. “Resiliency ‘actioned’ is moving from investments into people, processes and technology with AI playing a key role. Data normalization is going to be key, along with investing in Centers of Excellence.”

Unfortunately, CEOs now view supply chains as a top 3 business risk, according to the KPMG 2024 CEO Outlook survey.

“In the year ahead, supply chain risk management will need dedication amid increasing geopolitical challenges, inflationary pressures, and ongoing supply chain disruptions,” KPMG writes. “Leaders will need to focus on the risks of new sustainability and environmental regulations and be ready for new trade and tariff policies. There will likely also be risks aligned to generative artificial intelligence tools, for example, stricter privacy and data management requirements.”

KPMG notes that adopting new technologies will be a key to managing these risks.

“It will likely be vital to leverage big data for insights, and to work collaboratively with ecosystem partners to share knowledge. Extended visibility deep into the supply chain will remain fundamental, with the need to map supply chains to Tier 4 and beyond,” it says.

Embracing technology

Darcy MacClaren, chief revenue officer of SAP Digital Supply Chain, says that embracing technology is a key to resiliency.

“Organizations that leverage AI to become more resilient will gain an enhanced ability to sense, recognize and react to disruptions as businesses continue to navigate an increasingly complex supply chain landscape,” she says.

Nearshoring and reshoring at among some of the tactics supply chains are taking to address disruptions. According to data from  RR Donnelley, 97% of survey respondents plan to reengineer their supply chain in the next two years, with 30% planning a “total and complete reengineering.” As part of this, 69% of respondents are developing new relationships with alternative suppliers, 67% are increasing domestic sourcing, and 52% are seeking dual sourcing from geographically dispersed suppliers.

“Supply chain leaders are not just adapting, they are completely transforming their approaches to secure a more stable future,” said John Marrow, president, Supply Chain Solutions, RRD. “Our report shows that while challenges remain, the right mix of innovation, risk management and proactive re-engineering can turn these challenges into opportunities for growth and resilience.”

The report also found that 93% of supply chain leaders are at least somewhat confident in their resilience against future disruptions, with 66% saying they are very confident.

Managing disruptions is a constant battle, and there is no one answer to doing so. But, the turn of the calendar hasn’t lessened the need to be vigilant. In fact, 2025 promises to be even more challenging.

“Whilst challenges may be aplenty, partnerships with logistics providers that can proactively offer resilience, innovation, and flexibility will be a game changer for businesses. Using adaptive strategies, leveraging advanced technology, and understanding shifting geopolitical and regulatory environments, logistics providers can help businesses weather disruptions while sustaining growth and seizing new opportunities, in the face of change,” Maersk notes. “The future of logistics may have challenges ahead, but these challenges can be overcome with the right partner.”

SC
MR