Welcome
Friday, September 03, 2010
Friday, September 03, 2010
Latest Procurement News
Posted: Friday, February 13, 2009, 3:42PM
RELATED NEWS
- Microsoft adopts cloud-based SRM
02 Sep 10 - Bexar region of Texas, US upgrades supply chain systems
02 Sep 10 - Computacenter helped by UK trend to multi-vendor outsourcing
01 Sep 10 - IBM seals Sterling Commerce acquisition
31 Aug 10 - Nestlé optimises coffee supply chain
31 Aug 10 - MIQ Logistics names new chairman and CEO
27 Aug 10
RELATED ARTICLES
- Technology: CPOs recognise technology as a procurement enabler
- Technology: UK Government targets spending visibility
- Profile: Siemens CPO, Barbara Kux
- In Focus: Top companies turn spotlight on effective supply chain operations
- In Focus: Bank of England sparks debate on supply chain finance
- Technology: Ariba’s new cloud and Lloyd’s CPO on a single e-procurement system
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT TAGS
"Technology", "Supply Chain Management"
Supply chain complexity reaches critical levels
Even compared to as recently as three years ago, hi-tech supply chains are getting more complex, and delivering less visibility. That's the key finding of a survey jointly carried out and published by Microsoft and information services provider Infosys.Companies reported a 62% increase in the number of suppliers they manage, and a 66% increase in the stock keeping units they handle - in an era of spend consolidation, an increase of this level is surprising.
"While hi-tech companies have been working hard to consolidate spend and shrink their supplier base, broad industry trends have been working in the opposite direction," says Sanjay Ravi, managing director for high tech and electronics industry marketing at Microsoft. "Convergence, for instance, means that mobile phones aren't just mobile phones, but also contain cameras, and play downloads-prompting manufacturers to reach out to new suppliers, and procure and stock new components."
Survey respondents - most of whom were located in the US - also reported sharp increases in the number of production locations managed (59%), the number of geographies managed (63%), and the number of demand channels managed (59%). Many also complained of a lack of tools to manage this complexity. Half of those surveyed reported that supply chain data was not updated in real time or near real time, and over a third reported that 50% or more of their supply chain data was not automatically captured from suppliers, partners and customers.
"Supply chain professionals lack the tools necessary to make informed decisions and manage performance globally," said Ravi. "Data that's still captured manually or is scattered across multiple systems must be gathered together and manipulated in order to gain real, actionable insight that these professionals can act upon quickly."
A third of those surveyed reported that their supply chain professionals spent 25% of their time finding and reworking supply chain data to get it to the required level of granularity and format. For a high tech manufacturer with 50 employees focused on managing the supply chain, this percentage of time per worker equates to $1.3m annually in lost productivity, based on the average salary of a manufacturing manager ($105,581), according to trade publication IndustryWeek.
= Associate Members Only 
