Chemical industry supply chain execs are collaborating more, says new study
By Susan Avery -- Purchasing, 1/3/2008 11:41:00 AM
Collaboration and communication among supply chain professionals in the chemical industry is on the rise, according to a new study by Accenture in New York.
The 2007 Global Chemical Industry Supply Chain Practices Study shows that 24% of supply chain professionals are participating in such activities with customers to make sales forecasts, a more than three-fold increase since 2005.
Likewise, supply chain professionals are improving at collaborating and communicating internally. More than one-third (35%) report robust information-sharing within their company, up from 21% in 2005. What’s more, 53% say their business units routinely share data with each other, up from 41% in 2005.
As a follow-up to a similar study in 2005, Accenture surveyed 400 chemical industry supply chain professionals at 150 chemical businesses in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The survey, on 22 supply chain topics, was conducted online from January through April 2007.
The study also reports that while 37% of survey respondents say their companies have formal processes for sharing best practices, just 11% say best practices are documented, translated into standard operating procedures and measured at their companies. Only 4% say their companies have captured best practices in one place and make them available to all supply chain professionals within their organization.
The study finds too that while supply chain training is more prevalent across the industry today than it was two years ago, supply chain professionals do not think they are getting enough of it: Only 29% are satisfied with their current level of training.
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