A year ago, pleas for the next world flourished from all sides, calling for a necessary takeover of our consumption patterns, the way we travel and the way we move goods. Even Jupiter got involved by pleading for the “relocation” of the so-called essential industries on national territory.
Reality
However, three or four confinements, a curfew and a “permanent” state of health emergency demonstrate that ultimately the State is less omnipotent than impotent. Businesses, essential or not, suffered in the end, the real big winner is the digital world. Far from having pushed for a real consolidation of local production and consumption, successive confinements and the closure of living spaces have led to an explosion in e-commerce or m-commerce orders and consumption of dematerialized goods (Netflix , Amazon Prime…). So much that the legendary MGM studio has just been bought for a whopping 8.5M$ by Amazon.
Also, in our world reality “ according to ", the flow of orders, the flow of transport, remains in strong growth… However, these increases, endemic or episodic, – the future will tell us – call for a rethinking of the distribution chain.
Utopia…
Where could the start of the world " according to " come from ? Men and women before any other source! Certainly, but for businesses, where could this new world or this renewal come from? In recent decades, a lever has emerged that could take on its full value in the world's " of tomorrow " strategic decision-making tree. according to »: corporate social responsibility.
CSR is the voluntary integration by companies of social and environmental concerns into their commercial activities and their relationships with stakeholders. In summary, CSR is nothing more and nothing less than, “ the contribution of businesses to sustainable development issues ". Of the seven central CSR issues, two directly concern the distribution chain, namely the environment and local development. Hoping that the example given by the ousting of Emmanuel Faber is not a harbinger of the premature death of the mission-driven company and therefore of CSR.
How can we meet such an objective without taking into consideration the scope of the supply chain in physical products? By pushing the door to innovation, taking side steps, carefully examining the possible levers resulting from Smart Supply, particularly on the famous stretch of the last mile and therefore the last meter!
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