SCMAP Perspective is our fortnightly column on PortCalls, tackling the latest developments in the supply chain industry, as well as updates from within SCMAP. On this column, Henrik Batallones shares his takeaways from the 1st UPC Stakeholders’ Summit.
Strength in numbers
I’ve had the privilege of being one of the moderators of the inaugural Stakeholders’ Summit organized by the United Portusers Confederation of the Philippines last April 23. It was a good reminder of just how vast the supply chain ecosystem is, of how many people are working hard to ensure the competitiveness of our businesses and the national economy at large. It was also a good reminder of how, even if we’re facing different aspects of the supply chain, we all face the same problems – and, potentially, the same solutions.
For one, an inescapable topic was the uncertainties raised by Donald Trump’s trade war on virtually all countries, but more specifically, China. We have long established its knock-on effects on global supply chains, and how we have yet to really see its worst effects. While tensions seem to have somewhat settled down, there are still anxieties about how it’ll impact logistics costs and enterprise competitiveness – and we are seeing this across all logistics modes, and regardless of whether this concerns domestic or international trade. Not so alone now, are we?
This uncertainty presents many opportunities for countries like ours, not just to fill the gap being created as the United States turns its back, but to make our own domestic systems stronger and more resilient. Some of these were touched on during the two panels I had the pleasure of moderating. Two of them, we are quite familiar with. We talk a lot about embracing digitalization; between the larger pool of experts we can tap, and the still lowering costs of adoption, technology that can improve our logistics and operations is becoming even more democratized, and the case for not utilizing it is getting thinner and thinner as time passes by.
The second one is upskilling our people, and here, again, the options are growing. TESDA deputy director general Nelly Nita Dillera was one of my panelists for my second panel, and she took the opportunity to invite participants to take part in the National TVET Board being put together by the agency to help shape the government’s response to the demand for training. We at SCMAP are working on taking part, being already members of the TVET Board for the National Capital Region. We hope to see other organizations take part as well, to provide the government with greater insight into the needs of our sector.
One, also critical, thing we can embrace is greater data-sharing. As calls for collaboration – not just between countries, considering the circumstances, but also between companies – grows stronger, there is also the need to facilitate easier sharing of pertinent information to make better decisions. But to facilitate this sharing, we have to make sure that companies have integrity and are well-governed. This is a point UPC director Carlos Yturzaeta was keen to make during the panel: stakeholders should be trustworthy enough to foster the collaboration required.
When we embrace all of these, we can make our supply chains stronger and more resilient – and we can also help move the needle, particularly as government is keen to implement more reforms that should make our sector more competitive and responsive to the challenges and opportunities ahead. As a moderator, I was admittedly excited to have touched on this idea in a succinct way: to make our supply chains stronger, we need to come together – because there is strength in numbers.
My hearty congratulations once again to the UPC and its directors and staff in mounting a successful event – another sign of collaboration between supply chain stakeholders such as our organizations.