In an engaging 15-minute radio interview, PSA International Group CEO Tan Chong Meng speaks with Glenn van Zutphen from Business and Personal Finance station MONEY FM 89.3 about the future of global supply chains after COVID-19. Our key takeaway? That logistics is a team sport – and stakeholders need to collaborate to overcome the challenges that have arisen from the unprecedented pandemic.

Chong Meng explained to Glenn that while we speak of “supply chain” easily, it is actually a very broad concept. Primarily, it refers to the movement of goods. There are 3 flows that enable this – the physical movement of goods via air, sea, rail and warehousing; the regulatory flow of Customs declarations etc; and financial flows involving letters of credit, banks, insurance, and more. Multiple industry players are involved in these 3 flows involved in the global supply chain.

Like a team sport, Chong Meng highlighted that the multiple players involved in the 3 flows have to play together. “I think industry players will need to come together to keep supply chains open with more collaborative methods. And that’s what we (as PSA) are also trying to do by having industry discussions and see where we can make changes in the short term.”

“We need common data standards and common data structures… COVID-19 will make people reevaluate whether they should spend time to innovate separately, which may be wasteful… or to converge and support major shifts. Governments will have a part to play in this. Industry leaders will also have a part to play in this. So I think we can move together faster.”

Resilience was also a key theme in the wide-ranging conversation.

Chong Meng said, “Now with COVID-19, I think certainly manufacturers, producers and countries will start to think about resilience a lot more than just efficiency, effectiveness and cost-competitiveness… The supply chain will not just be a task driven by the procurement department, but become more of a strategic multi-issue.”

Chong Meng believed “regionalisation and global growth will go hand in hand” in the future. Alongside that, PSA has expanded its portfolio over the last few years to include many land-based assets and (digital) networks to focus on end-to-end and creating total visibility for customers.

Looking ahead, Chong Meng reiterated that it is critical for businesses to be prepared to withstand the numerous waves of this COVID-19 storm.

“I think many experts are saying now, we’ve got to be capable of bracing a number of cycles of this pandemic. And if you were to consider that, I think our first priority will have to be nothing more or less than knowing how to keep our essential operations going,” he said. “And then going beyond that, I think we’ll have to discover and embed structurally different solutions.”

Source: “Weekends: Logistic Industry after COVID-19” from MONEY FM 89.3 by SPH RADIO.

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