Capgemini Acquires Procurement Specialist IBX
Capgemini Group today announced its acquisition of on-demand purchasing solutions provider IBX and with it, the availability of the “industry’s first global end-to-end, Procurement-as-a-Service offering”. Read more
Warehouse Optimization as Top Priority
Two out of three supply chain managers currently feel their work to be strongly affected by the economic crisis, far more than by customer requirements (46 percent) or the pursuit of sustainability (37 percent). These are the findings of an international study conducted by Capgemini Consulting on the current situation in Supply Chain Management (SCM). 300 companies were questioned for the study.
„Although the total number of SCM projects for 2009 has not decreased by the crisis, changes in the goal setting have become visible,” says Dr Martin Raab (photo), Head of SCM at Capgemini Consulting.
Since the beginning of the crisis, managers have focussed on projects involving fast cost cutting or better contract terms. The top ten of current SCM projects are led by steps aimed at warehouse optimization (48 percent), followed closely by strategic SCM projects (45 percent) and projects for long-term planning and forecasting (44 percent).
“The study makes clear however that, for managers, a short term success through warehouse optimization or contract renogatiations has priority over those SCM projects with a long-term effect,” states Dr Martin Raab. A loss of 14 percentage points shows that strategic SCM projects are the clear loser of the crisis. This does not really surprise Dr Martin Raab who points out a considerable risk involved: “Now is the time for cost cutting to be combined with innovation and process optimization. This is the only way to achieve a competitive edge that will be of use right after the recession.”
The complete study „Crisis dominates the supply chain agenda in 2009“ can be downloaded at Capgemini.
