Europe Survey Finds Split Between Supply Chain Operations, Business Goals

Eighty percent of European supply chain leaders don’t see their company’s supply chain as enabling organizational business strategies, a recent survey found.

Hitachi Consulting in September conducted a telephone survey of 100 supply chain executives and managers across nine countries at companies with (euros) 5 million to 50 million in revenue.

The poll also found that:

–55 percent don’t see their supply chain as a basic source of business value and competitive advantage

–43 percent expect their supply chain to improve sales revenues in the next five years, while 45 percent don’t believe their companies’ supply chains will help improve profits

–29 percent see their supply chain as a purely operational function

–Only 33 percent thought their supply chain would improve the customer-service experience in the next five years.

“These figures are far from reassuring. For the most part, it seems that senior executives understand the strategic importance of the supply chain, yet the managers who deal with the supply chain on a day-to-day basis do not,” said Cathy Johnson, Hitachi Consulting vice president, in a press release.

“A supply chain that doesn’t support the overarching business strategy, and which doesn’t deliver competitive edge – and which isn’t going to deliver a material change in performance over the next five years – is clearly not a desirable asset,” she said.

Greg Kinsey, vice president of marketing for Hitachi Consulting for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, added: “The results from our survey make one thing very clear: the disconnect between a company’s business transformation strategy and the day-to-day management of the supply chain remains a serious, yet hidden, problem for many organizations. Our real concern is the lack of alignment, sense of urgency and change readiness within the operations. This should be a wake-up call for both senior executives and operational managers.”

 

 

 

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