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| Market Research
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Never-ending supply: Cliff Mills, NCC Research (March 2008)
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Supply chain management refers to the supervision of all business processes and inputs that are used by companies to produce the
goods or services that they sell. The better an organisation is at managing its entire supply chain, the more efficiently its operations
will run and the more cost-effectively it can produce and market its products. So the drivers for getting it right are compelling.
The theory behind optimising your supply chain is not new but the real problem is how best to implement the theory and deliver
true business benefit.
The challenges are not diminishing: companies are now faced
with managing the extended supply chain to include suppliers,
partners and customers; getting an accurate picture of demand
so this can be mapped into their operations; and responding to
the increasingly pressing environmental challenge.
The good news is that, according to our latest survey, most
companies have risen to the challenges – 77% have defined
a clear strategy for their supply chain & manufacturing
systems, compared to 13% who are still struggling to do so.
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Same old, same old: Alan Braithwaite, LCP Consulting (March 2008)
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Complexity in business today is such that companies are totally dependent on process
automation and electronic records to transact the business, record the results and optimise
performance. Such systems support customer and supplier orders combined with auditable
transactions of inventory.
In other words, the essence of every enterprise is its supply chain. And if companies can
transact and optimise more effectively, it offers the potential for competitive advantage in terms
of simultaneously improved customer service and reduced operating cost.
The potential for improved business performance through supply chain excellence drives a
market for supply chain systems that is measured globally in billions of pounds.
The ‘market promise’ of supply chain systems is so great that it sustains a sector of consultancy that researches and predicts
the future. But the independence of these assessments can be challenged as they are often funded by the providers of the
software and hardware who are naturally keen to promote their next ‘new thing’.
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