Today’s supply chains are more complex than ever

Driven by rising competition and shifting patterns of consumer behavior and expectations, companies everywhere are looking to their supply chain processes and capabilities to provide a competitive edge. However, as the global business environment has become more complex, so, too, have supply chains.

This complexity is driven by increases in:

Volume of data
Global trade and competition
Number of trading partners

Increased complexity underscores the need for effective digital solutions:

75%

of businesses had disruptions to their supply chain in the past year

50%+

have yet to digitally transform their supply chain

85%

of supply-chain executives struggle with “inefficient digital technologies

What is a supply chain business network?

A supply chain business network is a multi-party network for trading partners, which is a single-platform, single-instance of supply chain applications, data, and services shared among members.

Given the number of partners and third parties involved, many parts of supply chain operations are beyond companies’ immediate control, with no single organization responsible for the entire workflow. That’s why networks are critical.

An effective supply chain business network provides an accurate and timely picture of the supply chain—a real-time single version of the truth— and the ability to act upon it. Visibility enables agility, allowing organizations to be more strategic in addressing critical needs and deploying resources.

Information flow across today’s supply chain business networks:

Retail, industrial manufacturing, and transportation lead in supply chain network adoption

Adoption per Industry Segment

Sample size = 10,705, number of customers paying a software subscription to a business network vendor.

Companies are increasingly adopting supply chain business networks to achieve key business goals

Supply chain maturity exists on a spectrum, from reactive to sophisticated network orchestration.

Stage 1

Understanding siloed, fragmented and after the fact performance

Stage 2

Improving functional performance and decision making

Stage 3

Improving cross-functional performance across the end to end internal supply chain

Stage 4

Improving the performance in the extended supply chain of trading partners

Stage 5

Improving performance in a network of trading partners with emphasis on creating shared value

In the past two years, competitive pressures to improve overall supply chain performance and the growing complexities of synchronization across partners and data have led more companies to invest in network technologies that allow them to progress from Stage 3 into Stages 4 and 5.

This level of maturity places greater importance on networks and collaboration within the ecosystem of partners to deliver a number of benefits.

Benefits of supply chain networks

Enhanced visibility

Better understanding of customer needs

Reduced redundancy in supplier function

Agility and flexibility

Higher ROI

Less risk and improved compliance

Optimization of resources