Jean-François Salles, global vice-president for supply chain at Renault Group, believes supply chain management and logistics are witnessing their most significant changes since the second world war. “Supply chain activities are experiencing a revolution, getting to the heart of businesses as companies understand what is really at stake,” he says.

Renault, along with its alliance partners Nissan and Mitsubishi, are managing supply chains in a state of near-permanent disruption, with chip shortages causing production cuts and supply and logistics constraints leading to higher operating costs and longer lead times for many commodities. It has made balancing inventory and maintaining free cash flow in the supply chain more critical than ever. OEMs and suppliers are also facing higher capital and investment requirements to decarbonise manufacturing and logistics.