The new 2013 Economist Intelligence Unit report, sponsored by KPMG, entitled “Global Manufacturing Outlook – Competitive Advantage: Enhancing Supply Chain Networks For Efficiency and Innovation,” has been released. Key findings from the report are:
- Global manufacturers are increasing transaction activity to take advantage of growth opportunities in global markets, while reassessing operations and product portfolios to control costs.
- Companies are viewing their channel partners as more of a “network” which is critical to achieving a “demand-driven” supply chain, i.e. one that provides a real-time view to total demand, supply, and capacity information.
- Visibility is the new watchword in supply chain optimization and a major opportunity for many companies.
- Increasingly, companies are placing the supply chain at the center of their strategies to innovate.
- Companies see value in both breakthrough and incremental innovation to stay competitive.