Supply Chains: Where's Our Stuff?
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C-SUITE PERSPECTIVES

Supply Chains: Where's Our Stuff?

Supply chain issues are global, multifaceted, and involve goods from threads to chips. Steve Odland sits down with Cathy Leonhardt of Solomon Partners.

Supply chain issues are global, multifaceted, and involve goods from threads to chips. On a new episode of CEO Perspectives, President and CEO Steve Odland sits down with Cathy Leonhardt, Managing Director and Co-Head of Solomon Partners’ Global Consumer Retail Group, to discuss the current and future states of supply chains. Tune in for insights on:

  • Clogs and chokepoints Southern California ports, which take in 40 percent of US imports, can have as many as 100 ships waiting to unload. The issues: shortages of containers, chassis to move containers, and drivers to move goods. There are similar chokepoints in the rail system.
  • How it happened While some supply chain issues (labor shortages) predate COVID-19, 18 months of pandemic-related factory shutdowns triggered a dramatic worsening, especially for bulky low-cost items.
  • Outsourcing and offshoring Could the trend to leave the US for cheaper production costs now reverse itself? Reshoring, says Leonhardt, is difficult. “And it’s still much more expensive than anyone can fathom.”  
  • What companies can do The two biggest retailers in the US, Wal-Mart and Target, have upped warehouse inventory. Leasing ships and using air freight are partial, albeit costly, fixes.
  • Silver linings Less discounting, higher prices, and bigger margins, leading to more profitability.
 Supply Chains: Where's Our Stuff?

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Supply chain issues are global, multifaceted, and involve goods from threads to chips. On a new episode of CEO Perspectives, President and CEO Steve Odland sits down with Cathy Leonhardt, Managing Director and Co-Head of Solomon Partners’ Global Consumer Retail Group, to discuss the current and future states of supply chains. Tune in for insights on:

  • Clogs and chokepoints Southern California ports, which take in 40 percent of US imports, can have as many as 100 ships waiting to unload. The issues: shortages of containers, chassis to move containers, and drivers to move goods. There are similar chokepoints in the rail system.
  • How it happened While some supply chain issues (labor shortages) predate COVID-19, 18 months of pandemic-related factory shutdowns triggered a dramatic worsening, especially for bulky low-cost items.
  • Outsourcing and offshoring Could the trend to leave the US for cheaper production costs now reverse itself? Reshoring, says Leonhardt, is difficult. “And it’s still much more expensive than anyone can fathom.”  
  • What companies can do The two biggest retailers in the US, Wal-Mart and Target, have upped warehouse inventory. Leasing ships and using air freight are partial, albeit costly, fixes.
  • Silver linings Less discounting, higher prices, and bigger margins, leading to more profitability.

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Steve Odland

Steve Odland

President and CEO
The Conference Board, Inc.

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C-Suite Perspectives

C-Suite Perspectives is a series hosted by our President & CEO, Steve Odland. This weekly conversation takes an objective, data-driven look at a range of business topics aimed at executives. Listeners will come away with what The Conference Board does best: Trusted Insights for What’s Ahead™.

C-Suite Perspectives provides unique insights for C-Suite executives on timely topics that matter most to businesses as selected by The Conference Board. If you would like to suggest a guest for the podcast series, please email csuite.perspectives@conference-board.org. Note: As a non-profit organization under 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code, The Conference Board cannot promote or offer marketing opportunities to for-profit entities.


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