The CFO'S Perspective

As companies continue to battle unexpectedly high inflation and economic uncertainty, understanding this year’s prevailing trends across financial forecasting, fintech stacks, procurement, and customer attribution can help them to increase revenue and market share. Our ongoing research and conversations with other c-suite professionals in the industry have revealed several key shifts in these areas that can affect not only how a CFO does their job but also how their organizations develop and execute on strategic plans.

Rapid growth in the US economy and the lingering impact of the pandemic on global supply chains have created problems for almost every industry.

The construction industry has been impacted by shortages of certain glues used to make composite building products leading to escalating construction costs and lengthy project delays.

The automotive industry has been impacted by the well-publicized shortage of computer chips, which is caused by the shortage of chip manufacturing capacity. Underlying causes include shortages of certain critical raw materials and a very small number of chip manufacturing equipment manufacturers.

Even restaurants have been hit with shortages of food containers for to-go orders because of shortages of natural gas feedstock for container manufacturers.

Nearly every business has been beset by delays in the delivery of everyday supplies that can be traced to a shortage of workers in the transportation and distribution industries.

There aren’t enough workers to load trucks at the warehouses or drive them down the highways. If essential supplies are available, they are likely to be higher-priced and available only with extended delivery dates.

Should we pursue foreign manufacturing operations?

The last two years have shown the fragility of foreign supply chains. What were once relatively stable supply chains are now fraught with problems ranging from logistics/shipping delays, government lockdowns, material shortages, labor shortages, and changing political environments leading to increased duties and tariffs.

How do we proceed from here?

To alleviate some global supply chain problems, do we onshore our foreign manufacturing operations back to the United States?

Or are we still interested in foreign markets with low labor costs?