By Antoine Hassler
Health crises, geopolitical tensions and raw material shortages have propelled the Supply Chain into the spotlight. Long confined to the background, this function is now widely regarded as a strategic lever for businesses. Yet despite its importance, it is still often misunderstood: for many, it is reduced to transport or logistics, when in reality it encompasses far more. This first article in a series devoted to the Supply Chain has a simple purpose: to explain, in accessible language, what it really is, why it has become so strategic, and why it concerns us all, far beyond the industrial sphere alone.
The Supply Chain orchestrates the entire journey of a product: from the sourcing of raw materials to delivery to the customer, including planning, manufacturing, warehousing and distribution. Every decision affects all the others. Producing too early creates unnecessary inventory; producing too late means lost sales. Choosing faster transport improves service but raises costs, while optimising costs can, in turn, lengthen lead times or degrade service quality. The Supply Chain is therefore a constant balancing act — a reality often hidden behind technical jargon that makes it difficult for non-specialists to grasp. Two examples suffice to illustrate this: S&OP (Sales & Operations Planning), the process that aligns monthly sales forecasts with production capacity, and OTIF (On Time In Full), the indicator that measures the share of deliveries made complete and on time — two technical notions, but ones that reflect very concrete challenges for any executive.
Take the example of a dish served in a restaurant, such as salmon with seasonal vegetables. Before reaching the customer’s plate, each ingredient has followed a precise route: the fish has been caught or farmed, processed, transported under controlled temperature and then delivered to the restaurateur; the vegetables have been grown, harvested, packaged and distributed; the spices, oil and wine have followed routes of their own. No customer thinks about this when sitting down to eat, yet around a dozen different professions — fishermen or fish farmers, market gardeners, refrigerated transporters, packers, wholesalers, distributors and chefs — must synchronise flawlessly for the dish to arrive on time, in the right quantity and at the right temperature. At the same time, the establishment must manage its sourcing, inventory and orders so as to have the right products at the right moment, without waste. That is exactly what the Supply Chain is: the full set of activities that make it possible to coordinate flows of goods, information and resources from raw material to end customer. Its role is not limited to moving goods; it is about synchronising all the actors in the chain — suppliers, manufacturers, logistics providers, distributors and sales teams — to ensure the availability of the right product, in the right place, at the right time, in the right quantity and at the best cost.
This system rests on a fragile balance: a single weak link is enough to disrupt the entire chain. Recent crises have made that abundantly clear. Longer delivery times, the surge in maritime shipping costs and geopolitical tensions have all reminded businesses that competitiveness depends not only on the ability to produce, but also on the capacity to anticipate, coordinate and secure the supply chain.
A stockout translates, on average, into a 4% loss of revenue (Corsten & Gruen, 2004) — a proportion that can rise even higher during peak periods or for strategic products.
Around 90% of companies plan to invest in strengthening the resilience of their Supply Chain over the next two years (Gartner).
The Supply Chain is no longer a mere support function focused on cutting costs: it has become a strategic driver of competitiveness, capable of directly influencing overall company performance. Managed well, it helps optimise inventory levels, reduce the cash tied up in operations, secure supply and improve service levels. It also strengthens customer satisfaction through greater delivery reliability and faster responses to fluctuations in demand. Recent crises have shown that an agile and resilient supply chain is a major competitive advantage — one further amplified by digitalisation, data analytics and artificial intelligence.
This challenge is especially acute in Switzerland, where sectors such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, watchmaking and precision machinery rely on global supply chains that are highly regulated and demanding in terms of quality and traceability. Companies must now reconcile economic performance, security of supply, reduced carbon footprints and regulatory compliance, while also facing geopolitical risks and cyber threats. In this context, the Supply Chain has become a key factor in resilience, innovation and competitiveness, contributing directly to the ability of Swiss companies to create value and maintain their position in international markets.
The Supply Chain is everywhere, yet it remains invisible when it works properly. And that is precisely what makes it so powerful.
The next article in this series, we will see why it is now regarded as “Supply Chain, the real lifeblood of business”.
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