Strategic Supply Chain Knowledge Development in the Hamilton-Niagara Area

This report is intended to be more of a starting point than an ending point. The goal is to assist in developing a dialogue about aspects needed to help grow the Hamilton-Niagara economy. In particular, the focus is on potential improvements in aid of supply chains that are tied to Hamilton-Niagara. Three important mechanisms to help in this regard are improvements to infrastructure, policies and data. These mechanisms are central to this report. In general, the field of economic development is a large one and generally too broad for the scope of this report but there is no denying that efficient supply chains are a core aspect of better performing economies.

To assist in the creation of a dialogue, this report utilizes two main approaches. One is that we have consulted with a range of relevant private and public organizations in the region and collected their opinions based on a set of basic but revealing questions. The second is that we have reviewed a wide range of literature both within and outside the region to develop a good understanding of important background aspects. The integration of primary stakeholder sources and material derived from a wide range of secondary sources leads to the fundamental insights of the report. From a sectoral perspective,two that are quite important for this region are agri-foods and advanced manufacturing and, in fact, these sectors have been well-sampled in the consultation process.

One important note is that this process has been conceived with an underlying question of how governments can help with this region’s supply chains. Consultations that took place did not emphasize any one level of government relative to another, irrespective of the fact that this report is federally sponsored. The nature of the consultation process is such that the content of this report may reflect viewpoints that are not necessarily supported by the best available evidence.