Tools to increase the productivity of your supply chain

Supply Chain Digest and Gartner Research recently released the results of their annual survey of Supply Chain Digest’s readers and according to their survey, the number one supply chain initiative in 2010 is to “improve efficiency and/or productivity.”

Productivity increases moved up from number four in 2009. After heavy cut cost cutting and retrenchments, companies are now seeking to participate in the recovery without growing back to the headcounts that they had before the recession.  This productivity focus is seen in the large increase in the number of SKUs each demand planner is now managing at most companies. The SKU per planner count has grown several fold over the past ten years.

The survey did not address how companies were increasing productivity but it did make it clear that they are seeking to use new technology and new tools.  More and more companies worldwide are investing in tools and technology to manage their supply chain, instead of hiring more people.

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