Navigating the New Industrial and World Trade Landscape : Inferences on the Future of Supply Chains' Business Services

All disruptive new technologies caused changes in trade and business models: from the village market, where the producer sold directly to the consumer, to mass centralised production in the late 19th century, to the fragmented global supply chains of today. Exports processing zones benefited greatly from this process of "hyper-globalization". But can we expect for the future observing a similar relationship between economic growth and trade? The Fourth Industrial Revolution is distinct in the speed, scale and force at which it transforms entire systems of production, distribution and consumption. Impacts on collaborative innovation and on organizational forms of production, management and governance are particularly relevant for supply chain management platforms and industrial parks. Specialised GVC support services will be affected by the 4th industrial revolution along "6Cs": Connection (sensor and networks); Cloud (distributed computing and data on demand); Cyber Physical Systems (Internet of Things, embedded systems in tools and machines); Content/context (big data and search for meaning and correlation); Community (sharing and collaboration); and Customization (personalization and focus on – customers, shareholders and stakeholders – value). As companies are adopting a ‘greener’ and more 'social' management approach, managers are also challenged to adopt a risk adverse approach to safeguard their brand image and increase their acceptance by consumers and authorities. Private norms and codes of conduct are now common practices when dealing with suppliers, even in developing countries. It naturally tends to reduce the number of suppliers, focusing demand on fewer certified partners. Withering global supply chains and export processing zones? When the future is uncertain, the best policies are those which do not target a specific outcome but aim at giving the capacity to react and adapt