Although modern supply chain management has only emerged as a critical business function over the last 40-plus years, supply chains have been around for millennia. When early man first gathered and sharpened a stick and traded that stick for a handful of berries, the concept of a supply chain was born – to source, make and distribute the necessities of life

But while the goal of any supply chain remains to deliver products to the people that need them in return for some form of payment, thanks to increasing consumer demands, regulatory pressures, rapid technology advancements and disruptions of all shapes and sizes, it’s gotten – well, let’s say a little more complicated!

Disruptive global and local events such as COVID-19, port congestion, extreme weather and geopolitical tensions have challenged supply chains in unprecedented ways and propelled supply chain high up the corporate agenda.