State of Flux has released its 15th Annual Global Supplier Management Research report, providing a deep dive into the world of supplier management. This year’s report is titled ‘Extended Enterprise’, delivering insights from 350 enterprises worldwide across 13 diverse industries.
The report reveals that most organisations have suppliers involved in at least 25 percent of their own customer interactions and nearly 50 percent of their workforce employed by suppliers, which State of Flux says reinforces the need to treat an organisation’s supply chain as an extension of its core business.
Support for managing suppliers as part of the extended enterprise is strong at 97 percent, despite this only 8% of organisations currently have processes, people, systems and culture in place to be considered supplier management leaders.
The report includes articles, research findings and case studies, plus contributions from organisations in high-technology, financial services, infrastructure, knowledge CPG/FMCG and property, alongside exclusive interviews with thought leaders and subject matter experts, including:
- AirService Australia’s unique approach to incorporating suppliers into the ecosystem
- Transurban’s insights from ‘Project Listen’ on enhancing supplier relationships
- Savills’ journey from category management to solutions management and the concept of suppliers as extensions of the team
- S&P Global’s exploration of how effective risk management can potentially strengthen supplier relationships and unearth new providers
- Enable’s perspective on using a targeted approach that might generate profits and foster better trading relationships
Commenting on the report findings, Alan Day chairman and founder of State of Flux said: “Organisations are only as strong as their weakest supplier but currently the overall standard of supplier management is poor.
“With AI tools now able to run the buying activities, procurement’s focus needs to evolve from ‘buying things’ to managing the extended enterprise.
“To do this, they must improve supplier management focus and capabilities, essential for delighting customers, value creation, innovation harnessing and risk mitigation.”
The theme of the report ‘extended enterprise concept’ was selected because of a changing world environment where increasing legislation, rise in services rather than products, more outsourcing and more complex supply chains drive organisations to partner with their eco-system of suppliers.
To learn more, download the full report.
