After three years of challenging, dramatic growth in the distribution arena, key industry executives see a time of leveling off on the near horizon. That won’t mean a decrease in investments, however—particularly in the digital assets that helped manage the growth and stabilized the pandemic-fueled activity of the recent past.
Respondents to the 2023 Source Today Distributors Outlook expect a little calm and perhaps some better predictability in the coming year. But they also see continued growth and an ability to direct some of that growth into tools and strategies to better serve their customers regardless of the economic climate.
“Our industry is so cyclical by nature that after a few years of such intense demand, we anticipate that it will naturally taper off, but we are prepared for that lull,” said Dave Doherty, president, Digi-Key Electronics. “The demand and challenges from the past two years will come back around again in new forms in the future, and we will be better prepared with the new building blocks that were put in place.”
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The supply chain as a whole also appears to be poised for a return to quieter days. As Hans Thalbauer, managing director, manufacturing and supply chain industries for Google Cloud notes in an Industry Week article, the changes in supply chain operations will be more predictable. “It’s not just that we won't go back to normal. It feels like whatever comes next, it will have its own shocks that require more visibility and better control of costs, supplies and timelines,” Thalbauer wrote. “The industry is accelerating moves to better data, more responsive systems, and regionally based manufacturing and supply chain systems.”