If you haven’t seen their list yet, Manufacturing Insights has published their list of supply chain predictions for 2009. You can find the full list here.  According to Manufacturing Insights, “given the challenging economic environment in 2009 and manufacturers’ intentions for austerity in IT investments, Manufacturing Insights offers the following supply chain predictions for 2009:”

• Prediction #1: Companies will exploit well-performing existing tangible and, especially, intangible supply chain assets to ride out the financial crisis and prepare for recovery.
• Prediction #2: Modern Supply Chain organizations will put expenditure budgets under greater scrutiny and new investments will be cost-savings focused, requiring shorter payback periods.  Expenditures will be made through the lens of cost/value.
• Prediction #3: Companies will “right size” their supply chains for profitable proximity and take a total-landed cost approach to product sourcing.  Standard corporate platforms will seek to configure, calibrate, and control increasingly complex scenarios.
• Prediction #4: Supply chain technology initiatives must support the standard business platform and focus on modernization and decision making
• Prediction #5: Economic uncertainty, particularly for smaller suppliers in emerging economies, causes manufacturer ‘brand owners’ to consider strategic investments at critical supply points and financial support for key suppliers.
• Prediction #6: CRM and consumer-centricity efforts continue to grow across the Modern Supply Chain as manufacturers attempt to provide the right kinds of innovation and new products.  The sale is just the start as services become an increasingly important part of the ‘product experience.’
• Prediction #7: The high 2008 year-end inventory levels will cause manufacturers to look at supply/demand rebalancing with a focus on strategic network optimization and multi-echelon inventory optimization tools, and where industry-relevant, price and trade promotion management/optimization.
• Prediction #8: Compliance-driven RFID initiatives continue to wane in favor of ROI-driven asset-tracking and security applications as manufacturers increasingly look at RFID as ‘just another tool in the toolkit.’  One consequence of this will be continued vendor consolidation in an effort to provide end-to-end applications and deeper industry-specific expertise.
• Prediction #9: As global economic pressures mount, outsourcing opportunities proliferate and global supply networks become more complex, risk management becomes both an increasingly significant capability and a key differentiator for the Modern Supply Chain
• Prediction #10: Sustainability discovers metrics.  No longer a “feel good” public relations proposition or even a regulatory compliance mandate.  Emerging standard measures and a desire to benchmark will impact sustainability initiatives and the associated investment in technology and services.

We’ve been talking about supply chain risk management quite a bit lately, in large part because we see supply chains growing increasingly complex and, when combined with the effects of the economy, we’re seeing supply chain risks on the rise.  This is certainly supported in the Manufacturing Insights predictions.

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