ReleaseWire Connect

"Empty shelves" has been a headline that we have started to see a lot more of in the past month. Fears about disruption to supply chains as a result of Brexit and the pandemic are becoming very real. UK and Europe procurement and supply chain recruitment is crucial to ensuring that shelves remain stocked and supplies remain available all over the country.

There has been significant change across supply chains in recent months as retailers look to respond to the shifts that have resulted from pandemic conditions. In the UK firms are set to on-shore more than £4 billion of products over the coming 12 months in an attempt to evolve procurement strategies to respond to the pressures that many currently face. The story is the same further afield too with seven out of the 10 largest retailers in Europe carrying out a review of supply chains thanks to the pandemic and many seeking to switch to production located in domestic economies.

One of the biggest questions in supply chain technical operations today remains how to adapt to the current challenges that have created fairly turbulent times for many businesses. This isn't just about the impact of the pandemic but other big shifts that have taken place in recent months, including the exit of the UK from the European Union, despite a trade deal.

The British Standards Institution (BSI) has recently joined an Innovate UK initiative aimed at digitalising British fresh produce supply chains. Produce Logistics' two-year 'Trusted Bytes' project will leverage emerging technologies to ease the international movement of produce and products whilst boosting productivity in the UK food industry. This will aid in the development of food provenance by digitalising vital border transfer processes and providing supply chain managers with integrated real-time digital communications. It would also allow for secure data encryption for the supply chain, the government, and other key stakeholders – improving cross-border transfers, enforcement, and amenability.

The UK procurement industry continues to adapt to the challenges presented by the Brexit transition as the UK Government's changed to the procurement process presents a radical divergence from the pre-Brexit regimes. The changes are aiming to speed up and simplify procurement processes, deliver value for money and give small businesses the opportunity to innovate in public service delivery. This modification, in principle, gives a significantly greater discretion of authorities in relation to their public procurement processes.

The past year has been especially turbulent for the supply chain industry as online retail exploded with 46% of consumers making an online purchase, according to the NatWest Group. The supply chains which businesses rely upon have been subject to irregularity and instability throughout the pandemic and alongside Brexit in the UK, businesses have had to rapidly adjust. After facing such gigantic challenges, 2021 is the time for supply chains to diversify, and data will be the cornerstone upon which these new channels will be developed. Smaller, more flexible networks that can respond rapidly to consumer demand can now overtake monolithic, slow-moving supply chains. The post-covid supply chains will include digital warehouses, connected factories, automated ordering, and AI-based interconnected consumer intelligence which will redefine modern-day logistics.

The beginning of the month brought the news that the UK Government are planning to extend the Northern Ireland grace period relating to border checks on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) goods, both of which were due to come to an end after March 2021. Logistics UK's Policy Manager for Northern Ireland stated, "Extending the current grace periods for the movement of SPS goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland is vital to protect supply chains." This decision means that businesses will not face significant red tape come April. After a year of continuous disruptions to the supply chain and logistics sector, brought on by both the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit, this news offered as a welcome relief to many agri-food businesses.

The UK continues to be ahead of the rest of the world in distributing and delivering vaccines. However, this success story would not have been possible without a clear and defined logistical strategy. Dr. Sarah Schiffling, Humanities Logistics Expert at Liverpool John Moores University, explains how there are many active parties that feed into the supply chain in order to get vaccines from factories in England and The Netherlands, to vaccine centres and finally into the nation. Ongoing coordination and alignment, as well as widespread vaccine campaigns, have all been pivotal in ensuring a streamlined process and subsequently mass vaccinations, all the while bringing the UK that crucial step closer to the 'new normal'.

Over the past few years, organisations around the world have incorporated environmental practices into their work in an effort to protect the world against the effects of global warming by working towards a more sustainable way of functioning. According to the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM), "the supply network for a typical consumer product accounts for more than 80% of the associated greenhouse gas emissions and more than 90% of the associated impacts on air, land, water, biodiversity and geological resources."

Adjusting to the UK's departure from the European Union earlier this year, logistics and technical operations professionals have had to adapt to the new requirements when carrying out duties in a post-Brexit society. Despite the year-long transition period which was designed to give organisations and government time to adjust and make the departure as streamlined as possible, there have still been long border delays between the UK and EU caused by complex paperwork issues. A recent study by MAKE UK reported that 61% of companies have reported supply chain disruptions either exporting or importing to and from the EU and around 32% are having their supply chains impacted in both directions.