“Visionary” business leaders – Silicon Valley is chock-full of them — love the word “disruption.” They preach the gospel of constant, wrenching change as a positive. I suspect that most supply chain executives would disagree.

Not that they have a choice. For executives struggling to connect the links of a multi-tier supply chain, disruption is an everyday reality, not a philosophy meant to stir up endless anxiety in the hearts of underlings. And while international business has always been subject to shocks, both natural and human-created, there’s an argument to be made that we’re living now in a time of permanent disruption. The only thing that changes is the form it takes. 

How, then, do we cope? Surely not by “hanging separately,” to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin’s cautionary message about the fragility of American democracy. By its very nature, a global supply chain consists of multiple partners who, in order to function, must engage in cooperation, collaboration and — dare I say it? — partnership. 

By no means a New Age kind of guy, I tend to bristle at the use of such touch-feely words — especially when they’re applied to the crass economics of buying and selling. Isn’t each party just trying to win the best possible deal, often at the expense of the other? Don’t big retailers and manufacturers regularly beat up suppliers on price, who in turn put the squeeze on those further up the chain? Capitalism 101. 

But when a pandemic arrives, or a war breaks out, or nations engage in an escalating trade dispute, or climate change wreaks havoc, all are affected equally. And no one part of the supply chain can operate effectively unless all parts are proceeding in lockstep. So when it comes to the successful design, manufacture, distribution and sale of products the world round, the word “partnership” carries a profound meaning. Turns out we need to “hang together” after all. 

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Hence the return of SupplyChainBrain’s annual issue devoted to our list of “100 Great Supply Chain Partners.” Think of it as an appreciation of the enduring value of partnership — consisting of vendors of products and services nominated by their customers. The reasons vary — criteria for inclusion include service reliability, value, problem-solving skills, knowledge of the customer, dedication to continuous improvement, strong leadership, after-sales support, global reach and an overall positive attitude — but they all boil down to a belief that business success is a lot more than just transactional in nature. 

It's also about more than technology. Running through the case studies featured in this issue is the need for new tools that automate manual processes and supplant legacy systems that were designed for a simpler and less volatile time. Artificial intelligence, in particular, comes to the fore as a means of overseeing just about every aspect of the supply chain, with its ability to make sense of more data than humans could ever manage. But humans remain in the loop, and here again we’re reminded of the value of partnership — a word that, thankfully, is rarely used to describe the interaction between machines. 

We hope you’ll enjoy this latest collection of supply chain success stories, and find guidance in the many forms that partnership can take in an uncertain and often perilous global business environment.

Read the Full List of Great Supply Chain Partners 2024.