Today, many companies blame their supply management problems on the economy.  But, what would happen if research proved that supply chain challenges – such as price, logistics, etc. – improved in 2009?  It’s not the Great Recession’s fault all the time.  According to a CAPS Research report called “Supply Strategy Implementation: Current State and Future Opportunities 2009,” not all is bad.  But not all is good either.

Of course, every company maintaining a supply chain process is worried about costs.  It’s a natural, knee-jerk response to every supply plan for manufacturing and production.  However, the whole supply management equation isn’t as simple as cost reduction and delivery performance.

The CAPS Research report states that “supply performance, on average, showed improvement for key performance areas. Purchase prices were reduced by 4 percent on average; transportation and logistics costs were reduced by 5.1 percent and total cost of ownership reduced by 4.3 percent. Compared to 2007, price improvements were similar but transportation and logistics and total cost of ownership improved somewhat. Supplier flexibility and responsiveness was also somewhat improved in 2009.”

Ultimately, this merits that firms take advantage of the improvements and allow their supply chain to further mature in 2010.  The CAPS Research report compiles responses from 130 supply organizations across 26 different industries.  The analysis proves that there are changes occurring within the supply process – even beyond the simplicities of price reductions and performance improvements.

The question should be “what now?”  All signs point to economic recovery, but it should be a slow process.  It won’t happen overnight.  It’s time to be optimistically cautious and continue to drive growth during recessionary times.

Here’s the CAPS Research point of view on how firms should pursue their future:

“First, there is need to ensure high implementation and effectiveness for core strategies such as category and supplier strategy development (with risk management); structuring the supply base; total cost of ownership; supplier selection; strategic cost management, and people acquisition and development. These strategies need to deliver supply performance today.

“Second, leading supply organization and business unit leaders need to further invest in the long-term success of their firms by accelerating transformation of e-systems; supplier integration into both new product development and customer order fulfillment; standardization of specification and purchasers to reduce complexity; achieving supplier innovation through effective collaboration, and establishing environmentally sustainable supply chains. These strategies are necessary to deliver future performance improvements.”

For companies using JD Edwards, managing a supply chain is challenging.  There are hidden pitfalls and total transaction visibility can be difficult.  Why conduct business blindly?  It’s time to take off the blindfold and let InsightSoftware.com’s JD Edwards Supply Management solution help guide your business.  It’s an end-user solution that integrates inventory, sales, purchasing, AP, master data and GL information to deliver real-time reporting and process optimization.

Stop wasting money and time on an unproductive supply chain process.  Follow a new path today: http://mini.insightsoftware.com/ra/supplier.