Business as usual may mean the business could go out of business.
Put another way, Hong Kong's exporters have been reminded that they will need to change their ways in supplying overseas markets, because buyer behaviour is changing and sourcing patterns are evolving.
A couple of years ago, the exporting community was told of the winds of change following a study commissioned by the Hong Kong Article Numbering Association (HKANA), an industry group promoting supply chain management practices (SCM) and electronic commerce technologies.
The study was done by Kurt Salmon Associates. It identified problems and illustrated the benefits of adopting supply chain management techniques and aimed to assist exporters of apparel, footwear, toys and consumer electronics, although the inherent advice was meant for all businesses. The US-based Supply Chain Council, once defined SCM simply as 'management of all internal and external processes or functions necessary to satisfy a customer's order'.
HKANA cites a definition that says, 'supply chain management is an industry strategy where business partners jointly commit to work together to bring greater value to the consumer and their customers for the least possible overall supply chain cost'.
While reminding exporters that embracing new techniques could save them billions overall, they were urged to exploit available technologies to their advantage.