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Embracing
CHANGE
What must be on your senior leadership team agenda for 2024
The global economy is again changing , but hopes that 2024 would bring a respite from the inflationary and cost-ofliving crisis sparked by the invasion of Ukraine and the pandemic could well be dashed for many manufacturers by further conflict in the Middle East .
Either way , manufacturing businesses need to be ready to face the new challenges of 2024 and beyond , not still fire-fighting the problems from 2023 , and the focus CEOs need to bring to their management team throughout the year is a drive for optimization , efficiency and cost-control , despite the turmoil in the world .
The pillars for achieving this in the coming year are ensuring the maximum visibility of your whole end-to-end supply chain ( not just what is in the manufacturing warehouse ), you are using AI in your planning and decisionmaking systems , and that sustainability is at the heart of decisions , not a veneer added afterwards .
Of course many management teams will say they would love to be focusing on strategy , but they have too many operational problems to sort first . Many manufacturers are good at handling unexpected problems . After all , we ’ ve had plenty of practice in the past decade . But teams should be putting more effort into seeing the issues in advance and ensuring they are resolved before they become an event to manage
No matter how skillful your business is , or isn ’ t , at managing sudden problems , their occurrence should be viewed as the outcome of a poor process . For a successful 2024 , your focus needs to go beyond how well you deal with supply chain and operational problems , and additionally emphasizes better planning processes so the frequency and impact of
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