The Digital Supply Chain Challenge

THE EVOLVING VIEWS OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN COMMUNITY

1 THE EVOLVING VIEWS OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN COMMUNITY In 2016, and again in 2019, IMD business school surveyed more than 300 supply chain executives from over 30 industries. The main industries represented included specialty chemicals, food & beverage, pharmaceuticals, industrial goods, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), oil & gas, and mining & minerals. The objective was to understand which supply chain topics were considered of high importance to the community over the next three to five years, and also to develop an understanding of how well these managers felt their own organization or company was addressing these topics. The survey results are shown in Figure 1.1 . The responses were ranked on a scale from 1 to 7, with 1 being considered of very low importance and not well addressed and 7 being of very high importance and well addressed. This approach provides rich insights into the priorities, preoccupations and self- assessment of supply chain executives, and how this has evolved over time . The survey results offer several takeaways for supply chain managers looking both to benchmark themselves and to develop a sense of strategic priorities. The reality/hype gap of digitalization The five supply chain topics deemed of highest importance in both surveys are not intrinsically supply chain digitalization (SCD) topics. They concern the fundamentals, also it is hardly surprising to find they are top of mind for supply chain managers. The most important topic, supply chain strategy/integration with business strategy , is reassuring in that every other topic should naturally flow from this one. We will argue in the next section that this applies particularly to SCD initiatives, but it is also true in every dimension of defining supply chain strategy. Just as reassuring is that although the importance of this topic has not changed since 2016, the respondents feel they are addressing it slightly better. There is an argument that the next four topics could be optimized or accelerated using digitalization. The second most important topic, a pplying sales & operations planning (S&OP) throughout the organization , is ripe for this perspective. However, it is doubtful whether a tool can help improve a managerial process that has not yet fully solidified. In Chapter 3 we explore how S&OP is more a function of process and policy than a topic of digitalization.

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