Dexory at Gartner Supply Chain Symposium: Driving the next generation productivity
How do you really define the value of Supply Chain in the future?
According to Gartner, recent statistics highlight a modest alignment increase from 40% in 2019 to 41-44% today, with high-performing organisations reaching up to 71%. While productivity and efficiency have traditionally been predominant, the stagnation in productivity since 2015 suggests a need for a shift.
High-performing organisations are pivoting towards leveraging intangible assets, which do not appear on balance sheets, such as data insights, to propel what Gartner describes as the Next-Generation Productivity.
Human economic value: Redefining workforce investment
Investing in the workforce extends beyond retention strategies. It involves cultivating agile talent and learning models that enhance employee engagement and productivity.
High-performing organisations are shifting their focus from purely operational outcomes to a people-centric strategy encompassing four key areas:
1. Talent: Non-traditional employment models, such as shared talent pools and outsourcing for shared services, are becoming essential.
2. Knowledge: Investing in Learning and Development (L&D) is critical, with data literacy emerging as an essential competency. Learning is viewed as an event, not just a policy.
3. Management: Cross-functional leaders, streamlined structures, and Centers of Excellence (COEs) are pivotal.
4. Motivation: Aligning goals with incentives and driving purpose-driven initiatives are fundamental to fostering a motivated workforce.
Digital economic value: Balancing technology and governance
One of the biggest challenges supply chain companies face is balancing technology maturity with governance maturity. Data transparency is crucial, yet key challenges persist, such as maintaining data integrity and ensuring governance maturity.
With 30% of generative AI projects forecasted to be dropped in 2024 due to these issues, companies must invest in consistent, faster decision-making and leverage data insights.
Strategies to enhance productivity in this realm include:
1. Technological applications: Embracing advanced technologies to streamline operations.
2. Integrated systems and architectures: Ensuring seamless data flow, system connectivity, and integrity.
3. Intelligence-based outcomes: Deriving actionable insights from data to inform strategic decisions.
Resource economic value: Preparing for future constraints
Producing responsible products and services that consider future constraints is paramount. Companies must adopt strategies to drive productivity in this area:
1. Time to value: Balancing long-term and short-term investments.
2. Ecosystem collaboration: Fostering internal and external collaborations, including supplier engagement.
3. Embracing risk: Developing resilience and agility as core capabilities.
Key statistics for supply chain management
By 2028, 85% of supply chain companies will employ AI in their operations.
By 2025, 70% of enterprises across all industries will engage in digitally-enhanced decision-making.
By 2026, AI-driven product and customer experience (CX) analytics tools will be the primary source of insight for 40% of digital product enhancements, up from 10% today.
Rapid technological advancement, intensified talent competition, and demographic shifts challenge 60% of organisations.
Only 16% of supply chain professionals are likely to apply high discretionary effort in their work.
56% of organisations believe data growth will challenge the supply chain’s ability to manage data and generate insights.
Conclusion
As organisations have seen rapid technological advancements and evolving workforce dynamics, embracing next-generation productivity strategies will be crucial. As supply chain management continues to evolve, industry professionals must prioritise data-driven insights, agile workforce models, and sustainable practices to remain competitive and resilient.
