By Michael Power On Dec 15, 2022
From the December 2022 print edition
Michael Power is editor of Supply Professional magazine.
This time of year, everyone wants to make some sort of list. New Year's resolutions, gift lists, naughty-versus-nice lists – whatever else, this season is about taking account of our lives and the world. The year's end is a good time to reflect not only on what has just passed, but also to consider what the New Year holds. This is as true in supply chain as anywhere else. As 2022 winds down and the New Year looms, here are trends likely to gain traction.
For supply chains, sustainability has been a 'nice-to-have' concept, rather than a business imperative. That has changed. Pressure from consumers and regulatory bodies means businesses now embrace sustainability in their supply chains and promote environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals. This will no doubt continue.
Labour shortages
The pandemic exacerbated labour shortages across many sectors, supply chain included. Other ongoing structural issues, like inflation and an aging workforce, have worsened the situation. Yet there are steps that can ease labour woes: upskilling programs, automated processes, and reviewing retention practices can help.
Due to these labour shortages, many industries are looking to technology and automation to handle tasks previously done by people. Yet technology shouldn't replace human beings entirely. People can be re-skilled to use the technology, or to work alongside robots rather than see themselves
displaced (hence the term 'co-bot'). It's also important that organizations don't adopt all the technology they can simply because it's available.
Rather, identify a problem then look to technology for potential solutions.
Online learning gained popularity during the pandemic. Online education opportunities were a good option while we all worked to limit our in-person contacts. Going forward, we'll likely see more live business events. This includes conferences offering education opportunities. It pays to attend these events to further one's knowledge of the field.
Nearshoring and friend-shoring
Geopolitical conflict, climate and weather challenges, pandemics, and other issues can strain global supply chains. Concepts like nearshoring, onshoring, and friend-shoring have been discussed as ways to buffer potentially fragile global links. These practices aren't risk free. For example, they could raise costs, depending on which locations are chosen to replace riskier options. Used strategically, nearshoring may lower exposure to disruption.
To add some seasonal cheer, some things have improved. For example, supply chain bottlenecks have eased, and there's more volume going faster. And whatever else, supply chain professionals are experts in dealing with disruption and the unknown. That's something to be thankful for going into 2023.
nearshoringUpskilling
Canada first?


miart, Milan
Generations Section – Booth C 32
31st March – 2nd April 2017
The Generations Section of miart is a section focused on the differences between past and present expressions: each booth features two galleries, that are invited to create a dialogue between two artists belonging to two different generations.
For the 2017's edition of miart – Generations Section – ChertLüdde presented an exhibition of drawings by Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt.
Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt developed her typical typewriter graphics between 1972 and 1989, when she was living in the GDR and she became an active participant in the international Mail Art movement.
She created hundreds of original typewriter works which were often produced using carbon copy paper in order to reproduce more copies of the original sample. She then made Zincographic copies (zinc lithographs) of the motifs. She was allowed to produce a maximum of 50 copies for each motifs, due to the GDR's regulation. The works were made in many different formats, but mainly had to be small enough to allow her to send them by post and easily distribute them through Mail Art circuits. During the years, her practice – in particular her Mail Art activity – was directed to sustain an otherwise impossible contact with the world outside the GDR.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dramatic geopolitical changes later effected by the reunification – most importantly the freedom of movement of the former citizens of the GDR – she felt her involvement was no longer "needed" and completely stopped her artistic practice.
The works presented in this edition of miart were 14 small framed typewritings from her series "Strukturblätter", all produced in mid 80s. These works especially depict her obsessive attention to details and repetitive patterns, resulting in the creation of beautiful and delicate anthropomorphic shapes. In this particular series – which originally comprehended more then 100 works – she mostly used a specific typewriting machine for accounting and mathematics, which featured special symbols and greek letters.
The artist was in dialogue with works by Anna-Bella Papp.
Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt, Strukturblätter, mid 1980s, Original typewriting, 15 × 10.5 cm; framed: 32 × 27.8 × 2.8 cm
All images: Robert Glowacki and Trevor Lloyd