Supply chain management

Change is pervasive, necessary, and critical in today’s complex global network. Understanding the various paths and pitfalls of change, or the Landscape of Change, is critical for supply chain managers who wish to safely navigate through its opportunities and dangers.

New imperatives including emerging markets, sustainability, and heightened risks require that supply chain leaders understand the need to drive change smartly and effectively. In addition, global integration is rife with challenges and requires that successful leaders start with a unified vision, executive leadership, and the best and brightest of talent. And building “Green” and profitable integrated supply chains through new practices and models such as Design for Environment (DfE) and carbon footprinting is yet another process that supply chain leaders from around the world agree is integral to success.

Business challenges

• Increased globalization through outsourcing, which elongates end-to-end supply chains
• Additional regulatory compliance imposed by government entities, further complicating international trade
• Increased levels of economic uncertainty, which create additional variability in supply and demand
• Shorter product lifecycles and rapid rates of technology change, which increase inventory obsolescence
• Demanding customers who have created additional time-to-market pressures by requiring better on-time delivery, order fill rates and overall service level efficiencies
• Supply side capacity constraints that make it more difficult to meet demand requirements
• Natural disasters and external environmental events that wreak havoc on global supply chains

"Supply chains are no longer viewed as a backroom operation, but are a critical boardroom issue with direct links to financial results." Sanjeev Nagrath Global Supply Chain Management Leader, IBM Global Business Services

Why IBM

What sets us apart is the credentials of our people. All senior-level consultants possess a minimum of nine years of supply chain experience across various industries. A number of our consultants are published in leading supply chain journals, and several of our practitioners hold patents in areas related to SCM. More than one out of every four team members holds a Masters or higher degree in SCM-related fields (operations research, industrial engineering, applied mathematics, etc.) and more than 200 of our consultants hold Ph.D.'s in relevant fields. All application consultants attain “vendor certification” status in one or more supply chain applications.

Our comprehensive supply chain management (SCM) offerings address every phase of the supply chain, from design to source to plan to build to distribute. We have one of the broadest portfolios of alliances with leading and emerging supply chain vendors, such as SAP, Dassault Systèmes and i2 Technologies. As a single source for supply chain management, IBM Supply Chain Management Services can help you address the full supply chain spectrum and help move companies from a lagging to a leading position in their industry.