The End of Centralisation is Nigh

At THE LOGISTICS BUSINESS we’ve been predicting for some time that move to increasing centralisation will reverse as transport costs rise and the recent dramatic fuel price rises have brought this back to the fore.

Although not insignificant historic transport costs have, for most businesses, been relatively low compared to other operating costs and hence supply chains have been shaped more by other factors.  For example, whereas many large FMCG companies would at one time have manufactured their full range of products in each country they operate in, more recently they have taken the approach of centralising types of product or skill sets in each factory or country and manufacturing that product for all markets, say across Europe.

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