2012 Readers' Choice: Supply Chain Execution

SAP and Oracle maintain their winning track record from last year. Meanwhile, Oracle being the top choice among SMB businesses may signal an interest among large vendors to serve markets beyond their traditional enterprise bases. Kimberly Knickle, practice director, Emerging Agenda for IDC Manufacturing Insights, assesses the supply chain execution market.

 

Knickle: Manufacturers are still looking for ways to drive complexity out of the global supply chain. Investing in, and improving upon, supply chain execution is a natural extension of this desire. Top initiatives include improving supply chain intelligence and enhancing demand planning, especially in the context of balancing forecasting and responsiveness. The overall goal of manufacturers is to improve visibility across the supply chain to execute more efficiently with higher customer service levels, even in a complex, global setting. That goal is supported with new IT investments. 
 

Knickle: The biggest tech trend that is happening across all areas of manufacturing is simple — technology investments in analytics (big data), cloud computing, mobility and social business. These are shaping how the CG industry is looking at future investments and capabilities, how to engage with customers, and how to better execute across the supply chain. From more of a business perspective, we’re seeing CG companies prioritize their focus on one of three areas to improve overall execution: Product, cost or service.

 

Knickle: The true driver for investment is improving the value of what CG companies deliver to their customers, and I think sustainability can definitely play a role in the customer relationship. We also expect manufacturers’ interest in strengthening ties (social business, direct marketing and especially direct sales) will also impact supply chain execution investments.

 

“Our search for a warehouse solution became a top priority... Warehouse Management is a turnkey, flexible solution that’s ready to roll with minimal modifications, and we were impressed by how heavily invested the company is in research and development.”
— Jane Hershey, Vice President of Information Technology, Parlux Fragrances

 

“With Oracle’s JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Warehouse Management and our partner Le Group Createch, we optimized order entry preparation, improving the percentage of orders shipped within 24 hours from 50 percent to 99 percent.”

— Louise Villaggi, Vice President, Operations and Finance, Clarins Canada, Inc.