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The term Supply Chain first appeared in the world in the mid-1980s. However, even though Supply Chain Departments have become widespread in our companies and are often represented on the Executive Committee, the term remains unknown, vague and little understood.

Is it the term 'supply chain' that is confusing? Perhaps it is.

When I tell people that I am joining the France Supply Chain team, they almost systematically answer me: "What is Supply Chain"? And this is true whatever the audience: families, young people, students, and more surprisingly, people working in companies, large or small.

Explaining the Supply Chain is a bit like asking an astro-physicist to explain the Big Bang...in simple words...Not easy!

In fact, either you don't know anything about the supply chain or you have your own definition.

For some companies, it represents the warehousing and transport functions, i.e. traditional logistics.

For others, it also includes production and purchasing.

Some still put quality and design, i.e. the product development phase, in the mix.

Not forgetting the necessary customer relations, order management and after-sales service.

What makes things complex is that, in addition to the scope, the notion of time plays a major role in the supply chain.

Some of the activities are strategic, long term, such as building a network of warehouses or factories, based on future distribution areas.

Other activities are tactical, medium-term, and enable the means to be implemented to meet forecast demand to be steered. A good example is the management of stock levels over a year, based on sales forecasts.

Finally, many activities are purely the execution of daily tasks: loading and unloading lorries, picking up products in the warehouse, monitoring and controlling a production line, etc.

To make matters worse, our physical and information flows have become increasingly complicated over the past thirty years as trade has become more global and international.

Supply Chain is no longer possible without sophisticated IT tools and there is often a confusion between process and tools. The number of incomprehensible buzzwords is increasing day after day. Consultants regularly use this confusion to propose technical miracle solutions...

An IT tool is nothing without the men and women who use it, who work together and collaborate to achieve a common goal: to serve the end customer as well as possible!

People are at the heart of everything, especially in the supply chain, where there are hundreds of jobs to coordinate. This is the word of someone who has been involved in many international projects in this field for over 30 years...

Finally, new concepts, innovations and crises frequently appear. I am of course thinking of the war in Ukraine, which is disrupting flows in many areas of activity. I am also thinking of COVID, which made us realise that producing close to our consumption areas was actually quite logical and would allow a certain resilience in our supply chains.

And of course, I will end with the necessary revolution that we must carry out in our companies and personal activities in terms of social, societal and environmental impacts.

There is a great deal of work to be done to explain what Supply Chain really is and what it is becoming. More effort is needed to simplify and clarify concepts, to remove confusion in the minds of people, companies and governments, and to demonstrate the huge transformational leverage it represents for a more sustainable world.

France Supply intends to take the lead in this mission. We are delighted and enthusiastic to be part of it with all our members.

France Supply Chain has been involved in the promotion of the Supply Chain function and its professions for 50 years now. Our members cooperate to imagine and design contents and tools necessary for the production of value for companies wishing to have a positive environmental and societal impact.

The association moves forward with an approach based on collective intelligence allowing the development of responsible solutions to meet the permanent challenges faced by companies.

Since January 2022, initiatives for the planet, people and performance have been growing:

• Co-creation with AUTF of the Association of shippers for a decarbonised maritime transport, to launch a call for tenders aiming at deploying solutions for the transport of cargoes with veiled propulsion from 2024
• Commitment of a community of hauliers and shippers to the decarbonisation of road transport with electric hydrogen trucks
• Creation of a Youth Lab to give them a voice and attract talent to the supply chain professions
• Working with My Job Glasses to educate and showcase our members' jobs to help young people find their way in the form of mentoring
• Publication of RPA and Cybersecurity white papers with Wavestone on process automation and digital risk, two major challenges for the Supply Chain

And a multitude of other actions...

On June 17, 2022, France Supply Chain organizes the Supply Chain Day, an event during which its General Assembly will be held. It is time for the association to define its strategic axes, to choose its guidelines for the years to come.

Already 50 years old, and yet this is only the beginning of this dynamic for a more sustainable supply chain.

In an increasingly uncertain context, the organised and secure sharing of information between customers and suppliers makes it possible to better absorb the vagaries of the market.

Transparency in the supply chain is an anti-crisis remedy. If the customer regularly shares with his supplier the volumes (but not the turnover) of the products sold, the supplier can predict better... and the customer is less likely to be out of stock. If the supplier regularly shares with its customer the state of its stock, the customer is reassured and will have a more rational buying behaviour. For example, the customer of a materials manufacturer will share information about what is sold at the point of sale. The manufacturer, on the other hand, will share the quantities in stock, and even its production/shipping schedules.

For a manufacturer, having access to more detailed forecasts by product and by geographical area, with a longer time horizon, enables him to better anticipate his production. He himself can provide more forecasts to his key suppliers.

The benefits are many: greater customer satisfaction and fewer supply disruptions. More revenue: the sales effort in the field is not restricted. Lower costs with reduced stocks: when the MAPE (1), the statistical measure of the difference between the forecast and reality, is reduced from 10% to 5%, the safety stock is mathematically divided by 2.

As the relationship remains commercial and subject to competition law, it is a question of securing and organising this sharing in the customer-supplier relationship, sometimes with recourse to a "trusted third party" and a legal framework. A customer does not necessarily want to share his turnover and a producer is not ready to communicate everything about his costs... We will therefore try to limit the sharing to the quantity/volume part.

The rules of the game also need to be clarified. The customer who shares his sales volumes may be looking for a commitment from the supplier on a minimum rate of availability on the shelf in his shops. The supplier who shares his stock levels may be looking for a commitment to a maximum minimum volume limit for each order from his customer. If, despite sharing in good faith, these indicators fall outside the commitment values, what about possible bonus-malus, beyond which gaps?

The crisis makes long-term forecasts difficult, as we have seen in the automotive subcontracting or food processing sectors. To manage these hazards, the collaborative mode can be taken further with reviews and information sharing on a wider panel of supply chain actors. This makes it possible to cross-reference information from different sources: for example, for a chocolate biscuit manufacturer, the packaging supplier will share its forecasts with the cocoa supplier or the supplier of other ingredients. Collectively the information will be more reliable, and all parties can expect to win.

This practice is more developed across the Channel, with thirds of This practice is more developed across the Channel. There are nevertheless examples in France (aeronautical markets, confectionery manufacturers, etc.), but it is sometimes necessary to overcome cultural resistance, where each party defends its own turf, and also to respond to real questions about the reliability of data or cyber security.

The recent crises, and the adversity faced by customers and suppliers, can act as a catalyst. With the common goals of improving service, optimising costs and cash flow and reducing CO2 emissions along the supply chain.

(1) Mean Absolute Percentage Error

France Supply Chain celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2022. This anniversary year is marked by the reinforcement of the permanent team as well as by a series of new impulses turned towards the future. This is an opportunity for Valérie Macrez to take stock of the association, to recall its fundamental objectives and to evoke the guidelines for the years to come.

France Supply Chain welcomes a new manager. Who is he, and what will be his role?

Jean-François Rey joins France Supply Chain as project manager. This seasoned professional knows our sector perfectly. His arrival, desired by the president Yann de Feraudy, marks a new stage in the development of the association, whose activities are multiple, but sometimes unknown. Jean-François' role will be to coordinate all the work carried out, particularly within the "LAB", and to contribute to the promotion of all the actions carried out by the association. The idea is to develop transversality and thus allow the convergence of all initiatives to go faster and further.

What is the situation of the association on this 50th anniversary?

France Supply Chain is doing well. It has just over 450 member companies (and schools), which represents around 3,500 employees listed in our database. Its board of directors has 45 members from the world of industry, distribution, education and services. And we plan to welcome 3 new members on 17 June, during the annual General Assembly.

You have just mentioned the "LAB". What is their mission? And how do they work?

The strength of France Supply Chain is its ability to mobilise collective intelligence around a common vision in France and in its International Chapters. In this context, the " LAB " aim to reflect on the current issues and to provide answers through content produced and delivered in different formats: conferences, publications, forums, round tables.... The "Digital and Technologies" LAB addresses the themes of digital transformation and creates a sharing zone with the presentation of concrete use cases. The "Human Resources" LAB is led by a committee of 10 members: SC managers, HR in Supply Chain, teachers, recruitment agencies, etc. We can also mention the "SMI/SME" LAB, which has drawn up a programme to help SMI/SMEs master the fundamentals of the Supply Chain; the "Young People" LAB is mobilised around the challenges of attractiveness. Not forgetting of course "SupplyChain4Good", the "Sustainable Development" LAB of France Supply Chain in partnership with the international ecosystem of Movin'on. This represents a considerable amount of work carried out by members who are involved and passionate, and who also take time out of their personal lives.

International development is also one of the association's key areas of focus. Why is this?

Our members are often large companies in the industrial or retail sectors with locations and employees spread around the world. At the instigation of Jean-Michel Guarneri, President of France Supply Chain International, we felt it was important to open chapters for them. The objective is to allow them to organise themselves around these chapters, to inform themselves and to exchange between Supply Chain professionals. We have started with Africa, North America, Asia and soon Europe with a first chapter in Romania.

The association is therefore celebrating its 50th anniversary. How does this anniversary come about?

I think it is important to remember that France Supply Chain is the heir to a wonderful adventure that began in 1972 with the creation of Aslog. At that time, the objective of the "Association des logisticiens d'entreprises" was already to promote logistics "in all areas". Supply Chain was not yet spoken of, but in 1992 the association took an important step in its development: it became the "French Association for Logistics". The term "systemic approach" and "global logistics" were used, in a way prefiguring the concept of Supply Chain Management. This term made its appearance in 2014 in the title of Aslog "the French Association of Supply Chain and Logistics", before becoming in 2020, France Supply Chain. This anniversary aims to celebrate this history rich in events but also in personalities who have affirmed the importance of logistics and supply chain for the performance of our companies. This celebration will take the form of a major event at the end of the year, the date and location of which will be announced in a few weeks. But throughout the year, initiatives (such as this weekly newsletter) are stamped "50th anniversary" to reaffirm our attachment to this long and beautiful history.

As you have just mentioned, Aslog changed its name in 2020 to France Supply Chain. What does this change mean?

Logistics is very often associated with physical operations: transport, handling, warehousing... This is the most visible part of the iceberg! But the Supply Chain (of which logistics is naturally a part) is a much broader entity that integrates numerous activities, such as sourcing, forecasting, planning, steering, etc., as well as managerial functions that affect strategy, such as location decisions, stock location, distribution schemes, etc. In this respect, the Supply Chain is a cross-functional function that must constantly interact with the other functions of the company, such as marketing, sales, customer relations and, increasingly, finance. In fact, the Supply Chain is first and foremost an organisation. It mobilises all the resources (intellectual, physical, IT and financial) for the optimised routing of a product and to satisfy a customer in terms of cost, deadlines and availability.

Respect for the environment is an important element in the DNA of France Supply Chain. How does this requirement fit into your 5-year development perspectives?

The social and environmental dimensions are indeed very present in our values. They are expressed through the work done in the LABs and projects such as EVOLUE (Voluntary Commitment for Efficient Urban Logistics), which includes, alongside France Supply Chain, the Club Demeter and the Institut du Commerce, and in the LCMT (Low Carbon Maritime Transport) Association co-founded with AUTF. We have also published a " Manifesto for sustainable supply chains". For the coming years, social and climate issues will be integrated into all our promotion and communication actions. This is a subject to which the President, Yann de Feraudy, is particularly attentive. This will mean supporting companies in drastically reducing negative externalities in areas such as transport, real estate and technology. Subjects such as urban logistics, the use of alternative energies and social integration will be at the heart of our concerns.

And how do you see the supply chain developing over the next few years?

It is clear that the Supply Chain must become the central element for the development of companies. This necessarily requires a better knowledge of our professions. It is time for the political world, administrations, teachers and the media to be fully aware of the major role of the Supply Chain, including in the context of the reindustrialisation of our country. There will be no industrial relocation if there is no Supply Chain that meets the expectations of the sectors. Similarly, we must develop the attractiveness of our professions and develop training in line with technological developments and the needs of companies. This is a real challenge that is far from being won. With the members of France Supply Chain, as well as all those who recognize themselves in our values and whom I call to join us, we are determined to succeed.

Interview by Jean-Philippe GUILLAUME

From 18 to 20 May 2022, the 14thAIRL-SCMMeeting was held at the IAE Clermont Auvergne - School of Management, Clermont-Ferrand. Every two years, they bring together the international community of researchers working on logistics and supply chain management.

For this 14th edition of the AIRL-SCM Meetings, which focused on the challenges of logistics and supply chain management at the crossroads, some sixty speakers, researchers and professionals had the pleasure of meeting and discussing their work on topics such as planning tools, demand management, customer-supplier relations, etc. But the meetings also allowed us to address current issues such as the response of supply chains to crises, food supply chains, resilience and security of chains, sustainable supply chain management.

A visit to an educational warehouse in Montluçon was carried out, in order to highlight the innovative educational tools that contribute to the training of future logisticians.

As a highlight of these 14th meetings, a round table dedicated to the major challenges of supply chains brought together the Supply Chain Directors of Louis Vuitton, Michelin, Théa, Yves Rocher and Arkema, who gave their testimonies on various current topics: the vulnerability of supply chains and the means used to develop greater agility, regionalisation and the challenges linked to the reconfiguration of supply chains, the implementation of omnichannelity, and the place of the human element in the supply chain. Each participant took part in a foresight exercise to project their Supply Chain to 15 years by placing at the heart of their priorities a desire to develop more adjusted, decarbonised, resilient and globally more sustainable Supply Chains.

At the end of this conference, the AIRL-SCM and France Supply Chain reaffirm their close links to engage academic actors to conduct their research in collaboration with managers in the field in order to build the knowledge and managerial skills of students who will address tomorrow's challenges facing companies.

The France Supply Chain thesis prize for the best article in sustainable supply chain, awarded during the gala evening, rewarded the work of Joséphine Riemens, Andrée-Anne Lemieux, Samir Lamouri, Léonore Garnier, published in the Sustainability magazine and entitled "A Delphi-Régnier Study Addressing theChallenges of Textile Recycling in Europe for the Fashion and Apparel Industry". This research focuses on textile recycling and presents the testing of innovative solutions for improving recycling processes in this sector.

A Jury's Favourite Award was also given to Anne Touboulic and Jane Glover for their article "Tales from the countryside: Unpacking 'passing the environmental buck' as hypocritical practice in the food Supply Chain" published in the Journal of Business Research.

From 14 to 16 June 2022, the 9th Logismed exhibition will take place in Casablanca, partner of France Supply Chain. It illustrates how Morocco has made logistics and Supply Chain an essential lever of its competitiveness.

In Morocco, logistics is a strategic priority. Since 2010, a national strategy has been defined and supported by the King of Morocco. It has been translated into a contract programme between the government and the employers of private companies, in areas as diverse as the creation of platforms and the reduction of CO2 emissions. In 2012, a Moroccan agency for the development of logistics was even created and there is a dedicated minister for transport and logistics, Mohamed Abdeljalil.

The International Transport and Logistics Exhibition for Africa and the Mediterranean illustrates this dynamism, after two years of suspension due to the health crisis. Its primary vocation is, more than ever, to promote the logistics culture in Morocco. It also aims to federate the actors of the sector. A partnership has been established with the Moroccan buyers' association. Other objectives: to promote the logistics professions and of course to provide solutions to companies to improve their competitiveness and performance.

Today, large companies have made their revolution in order to optimise costs, mutualise, increase the quality of service to the customer or outsource. The mass retail sector has contributed to this with companies such as Carrefour (outsourcing of fresh products) or Marjane, the national leader.

A club brings together the logistics and supply chain directors of shippers. The professional and university training system has integrated logistics into its curricula. The objective is now to get SMEs to also take an interest in this lever of competitiveness.

The exhibition reflects Morocco's openness to Europe (20% of participants are foreign) but also to Africa. Morocco is attracting more and more international companies. Decathlon has set up its platform in Tangiers to serve the African market. The quality of the infrastructure and the logistics ecosystem explains this. This was the case in the automobile industry. Would Renault have set up in 2008, without the existence of Tangier Med (ranked 23rd in the world and 1st in Africa) as well as the motorway and the railway linking its factory to the port? In Kenitra, PSA benefits from all these services, just like the automobile equipment manufacturers who call upon specialised service providers for storage or delivery

In 2006, a World Bank study on the competitiveness of logistics in Morocco showed that the overall costs of logistics represented 20% of GDP. Since then, with a strongly exporting economy, Morocco has not ceased to improve its competitiveness in this field.

On June 14, 2022, a Keynote will be hosted by France Supply Chain on the theme: "What are the challenges and major trends of tomorrow's Supply Chain?

At a time when football competitions are coming to an end (end of championships, national and European cup finals, etc.), it is always interesting to consider the analogies between the performance of sport and that of companies, in this case their Supply Chain.

In football, the game is often divided into three situations, each of which requires specific preparation and actions: attack, defence and transition phases (moving from defence to attack or the other way round). And these situations could quite easily be applied to the supply chain.

Over the last fifteen years, excluding the Covid period and the war in Ukraine, continued growth has meant that companies have worked a lot on their agility. That is to say, mainly on their ability to react quickly to increasing demand. This capacity, which is essentially offensive, can be mastered by using the following three levers:

- Accelerate response times (reduce delays, increase cycle frequencies)

- Build flexibility reserves (operational capacity reserves, buffer stocks, ...)

- Be as demand-driven as possible

Agility (i.e. attack) remains the major quality of a successful and conquering Supply Chain, but today with the instability generated by numerous risks (climatic, sanitary, geopolitical, ...), companies must significantly reinforce their defensive capacities. In other words, the resilience of their Supply Chain.

 This is done through different types of actions:

- the widespread use of collaborative processes such as S&OP

- the development of digital twins for modelling and simulation

- an update of operational strategies: supply and sourcing, stock positioning, industrial network and logistics.

The transition phases have become strategic for certain teams (Jürgen Klopp with Dortmund and then Liverpool) who focus their efforts in the match on two key moments:

- An effective counter-attack that requires the coordination of all players, attackers and defenders, in an ultra vertical, fast and precise movement. This is similar to a supply chain where everyone knows and executes their role perfectly and where the processes and systems allow for very rapid action (speed of execution and decision-making) and great precision (control tower, traceability of flows and stocks).  

- Aggressive counter-pressing when the ball is lost ("we must get the ball back in less than 6 seconds"). In the Supply Chain too, in the event of an operational problem (in the customer service department, in the warehouse, in production, etc.), it is necessary to know how to mobilise collectively on the subject, find the solution and resolve the problem as quickly as possible.

Previously a phase of comfort (watching a player calmly bring the ball up is surreal when you watch a match from the 90s), the transition has become a real combat phase. There are almost no more time-outs in high-level matches and there are undoubtedly fewer and fewer in the business world.

Attack, defence or transition phase, who better than Supply Chain professionals to adapt and master all these situations, and thus improve overall performance?

The Supply Chain is becoming more and more digital and the cyber risk is increasing. The white paper, published at the end of April by France Supply Chain in partnership with Wavestone, explains the role of supply chain managers to better protect themselves with concrete case studies and a mapping of service providers.

Only 24% of supply chain companies see cybersecurity as a priority[1]. This concern comes in 7th place behind the search for agility to develop the ability to adapt to unforeseen events or the use of AI to meet customer expectations.

But the risk is real, with threats coming from a variety of sources: from the internal negligence of the careless employee to warring states, mafia groups or enlightened amateurs. Two examples: a hacker can infiltrate the management system and create false orders, while the loss of confidentiality of the itinerary of parcels and trucks can lead to theft.  

Logistics and Supply have a multitude of exchanges with many partners, which creates real potential breach areas. Cybersecurity must therefore be part of any business continuity plan.

A Supply Chain Director has a major role to play in identifying the threat and its impacts, knowing all the players in an extended Supply Chain (subcontractors, service providers, etc.), raising the awareness of the teams and interacting with the IT Department, for example, in order to adapt the solutions to the business.

The Cybersecurity white paper presents two use cases: that of a leader in the cosmetics industry with a centralised Supply Chain (planning, production, purchasing, logistics, etc.) wishing to gain in agility to respond more quickly to changes in customer demands while increasing the digitalisation of its processes. In order to secure the Supply Chain IS, it has drawn up a map of Supply Chain risks and assets and formalised project governance during the design phase and over time. Another use case is that of a food retailer. Following an incident on its data, it succeeded in deploying an action plan securing access to supply chain data by involving its suppliers and subcontractors.

This white paper is a good illustration of the Digital and Technology Lab's approach: to set out the issues at stake and draw up a checklist of risks and points to be dealt with. The white paper illustrates the subject with concrete use cases while providing a "radar" of service providers of all sizes, including startups, such as cybersecurity solutions for supply chain IT. This makes it possible to identify which player is relevant for a specific use.

The same pragmatic approach applies to all our publications, such as the white paper on RPA published in April.

"This latest work allows us to enlighten manufacturers on the opportunities, risk areas and threats that we have identified for many supply chains. They are part of our desire to advance the awareness, knowledge and experience sharing of our members, by providing them with insights that are highly focused on the complex technological issues they face.

[1] France Supply Chain Wavestone 2020 survey

In a context where instability is the new norm, recent crises have shown the strategic role of the Supply Chain and its ability to adapt. The next ISLI forum, which will take place on 20 May 2022 on the Kedge Business School campus in Talence, will prepare professionals for the coming changes with a programme rich in effective and innovative solutions.

Soaring raw material prices, energy and transport costs, lack of industrial capacity, sourcing problems, etc., the aftermath of COVID-19 and the arrival of the Russo-Ukrainian crisis have exacerbated tensions. They have reinforced the importance of creating a resilient supply chain from sourcing to end-of-life management, all within a new sustainable and traceable ecosystem. Companies realised the role that the supply chain could play in addressing these challenges. Supply Chain has been propelled from a simple support function to a strategic function. It is now becoming the "New Star of the COMEX".

This is the main theme of the next ISLI (Institut Supérieur de Logistique Industriel) forum. The objective: to project the sustainable Supply Chain of tomorrow and to present it as a real lever of transformation capable of meeting the challenges of the next decades.

This special edition also aims to celebrate the network of 4500 alumni who testify daily to the enthusiasm for Supply Chain in industry. Organised by Kedge's ISLI Programme, the themes addressed in this Forum are developed with the support of the Centre of Excellence Supply Chain (CESIT) and its four major research laboratories. Key issues will be addressed from an academic perspective in order to provide industry experts with effective and innovative solutions.

Four 4 round tables are scheduled:

Building a more resilient Supply Chain: three experts will assess the levers available to build a resilient Supply Chain in anticipation and prevention of risks.

The implications of responsible packaging in the supply chain: More sustainable packaging solutions exist, provided they fulfil their primary function of containing, preserving and protecting finished products or meeting the challenge of a circular economy for packaging.

Control towers: The golden age of data. Concrete cases of a Control Tower (advanced data visualisation system), feedback and consideration of the sustainability of economic activities.

People at the heart of the transformation. How to ensure a transfer of technical skills from employees to top managers? What strategies are implemented to raise awareness, attract, train and retain talent?

To know more about it

The shortage of skills in the Transport, Logistics and Supply Chain professions has been accentuated by the pandemic. This phenomenon has become more pronounced and makes recruitment more complex, giving greater weight to the new expectations of candidates that we have been sensing for the past decade.

The search for a work/life balance, face-to-face/telework, affects all generations of candidates.

In addition, there is the need to identify the company's values and policies. Almost 100% of candidates now ask us about CSR.

Today we see two major developments: 

First of all, the demands of applicants are increasing in terms of remuneration (applicants' demands have risen by more than 20% in two years), which creates a risk of imbalance with the pay scales applied to existing employees, and a real difficulty in positioning new jobs based on the digitalisation of our activities.  

Secondly, good candidates are increasingly being chased away or simply recruited as soon as they arrive on the market, with placement times of less than one month, and increased mobility (even during the trial period) if the promise is not kept, as observed with the candidates themselves. 

It is becoming necessary to adapt to these changes, to this new situation in order to get the "right recruitment" right the first time.

Three actions are needed:

1. Review its processes to recruit faster,
2. Thinkingoutside the box in terms of profiles, diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, relying in particular on the "soft skills" of candidates,
3. Accepting salary increases - both internally and externally - as in any market under pressure, which implies building training paths and employee management adapted to this new situation.

This involves precise and upstream work on the DNA of the company, the positions and profiles sought in a desire for individual and collective consistency, which includes an analysis of the market and remuneration as well as a good evaluation of the candidates and the members of the organisation they are joining.

The professionalism of the recruiter and the existing "profiling" tools are prerequisites. It now seems essential to us to go through this process.