Managing supply chain disruptions: U.S., U.K. manufacturers accelerate procurement

Manufacturers are working to accelerate digitization initiatives to manage supply chain disruptions in 2022 and beyond, according to an original survey commissioned by Ivalua, a global spend management cloud provider.

The independent study of 233 senior procurement executives from leading manufacturing companies in the U.S. and U.K. about their strategic plans for optimizing sourcing and supply chain processes. Nearly all executives surveyed (97%) point to significant disruption today in their direct materials supply chain.

Two thirds (67%) of respondents say they are not confident that their existing technology can adequately handle current challenges or those expected in the next three years. Moreover, companies slow to modernize face serious business risk as 90% of procurement leaders indicate that supply chain problems are a greater threat than competitive market dynamics by nearly two to one.

A full 84% of procurement leaders agree that dealing with supply chain disruptions has been their biggest career challenge to-date. That same number (84%) of businesses see modernizing the manufacturing procurement and supply chain function as an organizational priority today, with a direct impact on reducing risk and ensuring supply chain continuity of direct materials.

“The global supply chain crisis of 2020 has extended into 2022, compounded by the current geopolitical events,” said Alex Saric, CMO of Ivalua. “As manufacturing organizations battle today’s crisis and work to avoid the next one, modernizing procurement technology has emerged as a top priority. The right technology can help provide the transparency needed to better assess risk and contingency options and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of collaboration with suppliers.”

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