What is global supply chain management?

What is supply chain management?

Global supply chain management is the coordination of processes, resources, and logistics across countries to efficiently move materials and finished goods in order to optimize efficiency, minimize risk, and ensure supply chain resilience. Operating on a global scale requires companies to navigate complex international trade laws, diverse market regulations, and evolving geopolitical factors while meeting regulatory requirements, controlling costs, and fulfilling demand.

The process of global supply chain management involves sourcing materials, managing production, overseeing logistics, and utilizing data analytics to enhance visibility and decision-making. Operating globally constitutes a myriad of challenges that differ by market, such as fluctuating tariffs, supply chain disruptions, compliance complexities, and sustainability practices. To navigate in this environment and remain competitive, middle market companies must be nimble while also leveraging advanced technology and maintaining full transparency through sophisticated data analysis.  

RSM’s supplier risk assessment and solution

RSM has formed a strategic business alliance with Equifax to provide a one-of-a-kind supplier risk Rapid Assessment^®. Our risk assessment experience, coupled with the Equifax Supplier Risk Solution™ platform, provides a deeper understanding of your supply chain. Leveraging technology to assess multiple types of risk within your supplier network can improve the effectiveness of onboarding new suppliers while simultaneously flagging changes in the risk profile of existing suppliers.

Next-generation supply chain management

You want to limit supply chain disruptions and build resiliency, but that’s no easy task. Our advisors’ supply chain, technology, ESG and industry experience, combined with the Supplier Risk Solution platform, can make the difference. 

The acceleration of digital channels, the migration to digital platforms and the changing nature of work necessitate embracing digital tools and processes to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

RSM can help you unlock operational value and enhance agility by modernizing your digital platforms and transforming your operating model. One of the outcomes of this transformation could be a digital twin simulation to help you better understand the operational and financial impact of change before making a large investment in your organization. Digital twins have saved RSM clients millions in unnecessary spending.

Our advisors help you select the best enterprise resource planning (ERP) software option to optimize accounting, inventory, supply chain and order management. We have strategic relationships with the strongest middle market ERP software vendors—Microsoft, Oracle and Sage Intacct—and have earned multiple recognitions by Accounting Today as the No. 1 value-added software reseller in the country. 

Better supply chain management is not something companies should pursue just to gain a competitive edge; increasingly, regulators are putting forth requirements related to supply chain transparency and fair labor practices.

For example, Canada’s supply chain act, dubbed the Modern Slavery Act, is the latest in a series of regulations responding to the demand for fair labor compliance. It follows modern slavery acts enacted in Australia and the UK, as well as the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act.

In an RSM survey of middle market companies about sustainability, 32% included managing supply chain compliance as a top challenge, and 31% cited data collection and management.

RSM’s sustainability and ESG consulting services offer a tailored approach to help your organization effectively manage sustainability reporting requirements. 

Hurricanes and floods. Railway strikes. Grounded container ships. The biggest risks to supply chains today are unplanned disruptions caused by outside events like these, and the countermeasure is proactive visibility and action.

For many fragile supply networks, even a small disruption can have outsized effects. Especially for industrials companies such as manufacturers, which depend heavily on rail for the transportation of raw materials and finished goods, gaining greater visibility into their supply chains is not just a strategic advantage but a necessity. Consumer products is another sector where this transparency is critical.

Do you understand the potential risks that your suppliers may pose to your supply chain? Learn how RSM’s risk assessment experience combined with our Supplier Risk Solution™ platform can identify and analyze threats that could become supply chain disruptions.

Global growth, geopolitical concerns and the impact of shifting global tax requirements—such as the global minimum tax associated with Pillar Two—have created an increasing need for firms to reevaluate their global supply chains. RSM can help you minimize enterprise total costs by integrating tax considerations into a supply chain network evaluation. 

Companies also must consider potential tariffs as a part of any global supply chain strategy. RSM’s trade and tariff advisory team has proven experience in identifying and implementing tariff savings strategies to improve cash flow, reduce costs and enhance competitiveness. Our efficient and practical approach delivers immediate and sustained value through an array of defined and customized proprietary solutions, including leveraging RSM’s Trade Profiler for quick import transaction analysis and supply chain mapping that increases visibility into above-the-line costs and identifies missed opportunities. 

As businesses grow, management teams are faced with developing and implementing operational strategies to increase capacity, develop new capabilities and shift supply sources to new markets and geographies. A thoughtful approach to balancing the quantitative and qualitative analysis across multiple scenarios, as well as the identification and management of risk, is critical.

RSM consultants can help you align operational vision and strategy with your organization’s growth strategy and answer difficult questions about how you will serve a market and how the supply chain can most effectively support this (through make/buy, insource/outsource, new production lines, new plants, etc.).

Are you ready for resiliency? RSM supply chain consulting services and technology solutions can help you confidently face supply chain disruptions, avoiding costs and chaos whenever possible.