Report also reveals that companies are not focusing enough on strategic priorities
Elly Yates-Roberts |
A new report from Capgemini titled The digital supply chain’s missing link: focus has identified the UK as the leader of supply chain digitisation implementation. However, the findings also revealed a global lack of strategic focus in this area.
The study identified a gap between the expectations of what supply chain digitisation can deliver, and what companies are actually achieving. While half of the organisations surveyed include supply chain digitisation in their top three corporate priorities, most (86%) are struggling to get projects beyond the testing stage.
77% of participating companies said cost saving was the main motivation for their supply chain investments, with increasing revenue (56%) and supporting new business models (53%) also mentioned. The UK (58%), Italy (56%), The Netherlands (54%) and Germany (53%) consider supply chain digitisation one of their top priorities.
The organisations surveyed have on average 29 digital supply chain projects in the pipeline. Only 14% have succeeded in getting even one of these projects to multi-site or full-scale deployment. For those that have achieved it though, 94% report that these efforts have increased revenue.
The findings suggest that companies are doing too much and not focusing enough on strategic priorities. Those who successfully scaled projects had on average six projects at the proof-of-concept stage, whereas those who failed averaged 11.
“While most large organisations clearly grasp the importance of supply chain digitisation, few appear to have implemented the necessary mechanisms and procedures to turn it into a reality,” said Dharmendra Patwardhan, head of the Digital Supply Chain Practice for Business Services at Capgemini. “Companies are typically running too many projects, without enough infrastructure in place, and lack the kind of focused, long-term approach that has delivered success for market leaders in this area. Digitisation of the supply chain will only be achieved by rationalising current investments, progressing on those that can be shown to drive returns, and involving suppliers and distributors in the process of change.”