Survey: Complex Supply Chains Reduce Profits for Some Manufacturers

SCVBestPractices — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:01:45 +0000

Recently, SupplyChainBrain.com reported on the results of a survey of executives from 140 companies in the U.S., Germany and Japan, done by Microsoft and Infosys. Some key findings of the survey are below:

Half reported greater supply chain complexities, yet a lack of visibility
A number of respondents claimed that it could take hours before a supply chain disruption was even reported
More than half reported a higher number of products, stock-keeping units, suppliers, production locations, demand channels and geographies for their sale of products
Despite current economic conditions, 40% of respondents said that they expect their supply chains to become even more complex by 2010

“The economy may be down, but the number of products, suppliers and geographies that high-tech manufacturers have to manage has gone way up,” said Tyler Bryson, general manager of U.S. manufacturing and resources with Microsoft. “This complexity has made it difficult for firms to discover disruptions and act quickly, and this is becoming an increasingly serious industry issue.”

Employing a software solution such as Management Dynamics can help combat these issues. The article states that a large portion of respondants spent 25% of their time searching for and reworking supply chain data, to achieve the desired format and level of detail. A software solution could simplify that process significantly, saving a lot of time and reducing the number of errors.

Please read the full article here.

Supply Chain Visibility Best Practices » High-tech Manufacturers

Survey: Complex Supply Chains Reduce Profits for Some Manufacturers