The 2021 Supply Chain Top 25: Insights from leaders

This is an excerpt of the original article. It was written for the September-October 2021 edition of Supply Chain Management Review. The full article is available to current subscribers.

September-October 2021

This time every year, we publish Gartner’s Top 25 supply chains, the annual list of the supply chains that have made it to the top, a list that now also includes 5 Masters, or companies that have consistently outperformed year after year. You can read the article in this issue, along with the web exclusive material we publish on scmr.com, to find out what it takes to become a supply chain leader.

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For supply chain leaders, 2021 is déjà vu all over again: Along with the ongoing pandemic, supply chains have grappled with extreme weather events, transportation disruptions, facility fires and shortages of people, raw materials and finished goods. And yet, as of this writing, major global economies are performing at pre-pandemic levels. Clearly, supply chains are exhibiting agility and resilience, two essential traits for a world in which disruption is a major factor.

In our 17th edition of the Supply Chain Top 25 (see Table 1), we have an impressive group of leaders with new lessons to share. Once again, we also feature our five Supply Chain Masters (see sidebar), companies that have consistently out-performed their peers year over year. Finally, we once again identify notable trends, which you can read on scmr.com. Let’s look inside the numbers.

Inside the numbers: The Top 5

Cisco Systems comes in at No. 1 on this year’s Top 25 for the second consecutive year, thanks to strong revenue growth, strength in Environmental, Social, and Governance

(ESG) and recognition of leadership in the community opinion polls. One example: Cisco’s agility helped prioritize video conferencing and critical infrastructure capabilities for hospitals and vaccine research during the pandemic.

To manage ESG, Cisco’s sustainability requirements are embedded in its supply chain business processes to help ensure continuous improvement and drive impactful change. After achieving some aggressive targets for greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) one year ahead of schedule, Cisco added two new goals: A 30% reduction of GHG emissions for the supply chain, and 80% of Cisco’s component, manufacturing and logistics suppliers by spend will have a public GHG emissions reduction target by 2025.

Retaining its No. 2 spot, Colgate-Palmolive continues to drive transformation in its supply chain, including factory automation, expansion of external manufacturing capabilities and advanced network modeling. These have enabled enhanced customized capabilities that drive growth through new business models, such as e-commerce.

Colgate-Palmolive remains committed to reducing its impact on the environment. Since 2017, 20 of its manufacturing sites have achieved TRUE Zero Waste certification by Green Building Council, including 13 sites that achieved platinum status—the highest level of recognition. Colgate-Palmolive was also named on Fast Company’s 2021 list of The World’s Most Innovative Companies for developing and openly sharing a first-of-its-kind recyclable plastic tube.

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