The nature of global trade is constantly evolving. The world's population continues to increase, emerging markets are maturing and developed economies' appetite for materials, goods and services shows no signs of slackening.
As trade becomes increasingly globalised, supply chains are growing ever more complex. They face increasing risk, from quality control issues and compliance requirements, to the management of unforeseen events such as natural disasters. Yet, supply chain efficiency remains critical. Any supply chain must be agile enough to respond to fluctuating demand, and resilient enough to withstand ranging levels of disruption.
As companies are looking to maximise efficiency and minimise risk, innovation in the supply chain is gathering pace. The way raw commodities and manufactured products are extracted, produced, processed, traded and delivered is becoming increasingly automated. Also, the Cloud, Big Data analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT) look set to play an increasingly key role in changing supply chain dynamics.
The correlation between innovation and regulation – the extent to which one influences the other – is the subject of this report. Does regulation hinder innovation, or can it be the catalyst that feeds it? We investigate some of the ways in which businesses are responding to today's frequently challenging trading and regulatory environment, through innovation.
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