As the new face of this column, I thought I’d begin my tenure with a discussion of the key “supply chain trends” that are changing the way supply chain and logistics leaders go about their business.

In one sense, it’s safe to say that any business event or milestone can be identified as a supply chain trend. I say this because a core characteristic of high performing companies—the roughly 10 percent that consistently outperform their peers—is that they incorporate supply chain management into their overall business strategy. Those high performers expect their supply chains to contribute to growth and competitive advantage.

Still, there are several trends with a clear supply chain “face.” Each has the potential to broadly affect business outcomes; and it’s the job of a supply chain leader to fully understand them and craft strategic responses that benefit the complete organization.

1) Globalization. Companies are in a race to leverage emerging markets—both as lower-cost supply sources and as new sources of revenue. The macro-trend here is what Accenture calls the “multi-polar world”: a new global landscape characterized by additional hubs of economic power and activity.

Three main events are driving the multi-polar world. The first is faster and more-effective communications, which allow business functions to interact more closely while being disaggregated geographically. The second is government policies that increase openness and encourage the rapid growth of new economies. And the third is multinational enterprises’ need to expand their geographic reach in search of high-growth markets, new economies of scale, and additional sources of capital and labor.

Numerous prescient responses will be required of supply chain leaders. The most important, however, is developing global operations models that integrate product development, sourcing, manufacturing, transportation, storage, sales & operations planning, and the provision of after-sale services, networks, and capabilities.

2) Risk mitigation. Finding, quantifying, and minimizing supply chain risk could be the most important issue that global businesses confront in this decade. As part of a 2006 research study on risk management, Accenture found that 73 percent of companies experienced supply chain disruptions in the past five years. Ninety four percent said the disruption affected profitability and their company’s ability to meet customer expectations.

Clearly, the more global operations become, the more supply chain risks we face. But not many companies are incorporating risk mitigation into their global operations strategies. Therefore, it’s increasingly vital that supply chain leaders spearhead development of a “resiliency strategy”—a formal, company- and lifecycle-wide methodology for understanding, anticipating, accommodating, and minimizing the effects of any significant disruption (See Figure 1).

3) Mergers & acquisitions. Eight of history’s ten largest mergers occurred in 2006; so the fact that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) will be bigger and more frequent than ever should not come as a surprise. Nor should companies be shocked that post-merger integration—ideally begun pre-merger to the extent allowed by law—is largely the province of supply chain decision makers.

Still, there are several reasons why the role supply chain management is taking in M&A activity is becoming more central than ever. One is that cross-border acquisitions now comprise more than 15 percent of the worldwide M&A total. Long distances, unfamiliar markets, multiple regulatory environments, and radically different cultures create huge integration and consolidation challenges.

A second is that more buys (roughly 10 percent) are being made by private equity companies. When this happens, operations are seldom combined, and it falls to supply chain management to find synergies among widely disparate functions. A third is that new supply sources and operating models are key to M&A success; supply chain strategists must do more than figure out ways to slam pieces together.

4) Hemispheric supply markets. If companies had been told 15 years ago that they would shut assembly plants in Mexico to move to China, they would have said that’s crazy. If five years ago companies had been told they should consider leaving China to reposition some facilities in Mexico, they would have said that’s crazy too—but that’s happening.

More and more companies are placing a premium on shorter transport distances, and thus are choosing on-shore or near-shore locations for sourcing and manufacturing. For many, the primary driver is rising labor costs—cheap labor being the main reason that many opted for far-shore sources in the first place. Thinking “hemispherically” avoids the labor-centric mindset. Predictability and total value potentially rise. Excess handling, inventory, and transportation costs potentially fall. Political, social, and competitive risks potentially ease.

None of this means that globalization is waning, or that companies erred by focusing on regions with lower labor costs. It’s just that the foundations upon which companies make and implement their global operating decisions have changed. It’s what trends do, usher in change.

What I’ve discussed in this first column is hardly a complete list. Other supply-chain-relevant trends include the mainstreaming of sustainability (green operations); service-oriented architectures and “software as service;” and new directions in outsourcing, such as bundled services and end-to-end, fully managed supply chains.

Suffice it to say that supply chain executives’ plates are fuller than ever. And that little respite awaits them in the future.