Supply Chain Leaders Say Top Priority is Responding to Customers Faster

Examining the priorities and challenges companies face as they embrace advanced analytics, Big Data and machine learning, a new survey found that. 30% identified the need to respond to customer mandates for faster, more accurate and unique fulfillment as a top business priority moving forward.

Logility and APICS surveyed more than 1,000 supply chain and found that the goal of quicker customer fulfillment didn’t match with the fact that many companies still rely on spreadsheets and legacy systems which inhibit visibility into Big Data and hide both the opportunities as well as the potential risks.

"Organizations can quickly become overwhelmed by the vast amount of data today’s enterprise systems, connected devices and social networks create,” said Allan Dow, president, Logility. Dow pointed out that companies can take advatange of advanced analytics platform to make smarter decisions faster through greater visibility and leveraging predictive and prescriptive analytics to drive their businesses forward.

“Through the innovative use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, we are able to better understand the dynamics that impact business, quickly uncover new opportunities and enhance customer service," Dow added.

 Notable Findings:

--36% identify the opportunity to optimize their inventory to balance supply and demand as a top driver for their analytics initiative 
--30% highlighted the need to respond to customer mandates for faster, more accurate and unique fulfillment as a top business priority moving forward----
--28% see the ability to blend data from multiple systems for complete supply chain visibility as a key benefit of an advanced analytics initiative 
--19% of respondents say they want to leverage machine learning to improve their company’s forecast accuracy