SCM World Managing Global Trade September 2013

8/17/2019 SCM World Managing Global Trade September 2013

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RESEARCH REPORT

SEPTEMBER 2013

MANAGING GLOBAL TRADE

RISING IMPORTANCE BUT

LAGGING EXECUTION

http://www.scmworld.com/


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CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4

INTRODUCTION 5

BUSINESS DRIVERS FOR GLOBAL TRADE 7

CHALLENGES OF GLOBAL TRADE 9

CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS 18

REFERENCES 18

ABOUT THE RESEARCH 19


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MANAGING GLOBAL TRADE RISING IMPORTANCE BUT LAGGING EXECUTION4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Research conducted in April 2013 by SCM World on managing global manufacturing footprints highlighted the

growing complexity of cross-border trade. Where globalisation once meant low-cost country sourcing, today it is

clear that goods must move in all directions at once – east to west, north to south, rich country to poor country and

back again. Movement of product, whether as raw material input, nished goods or capital equipment, requiresan approach to global trade management that is ever vigilant to regulations, taxes, transportation costs and more

– and one that is equally capable of facilitating inbound supply and outbound delivery to end customer markets.

To understand the business drivers and execution challenges associated with this increasingly important and

complex area, we elded a survey to the SCM World community. Having collected 114 complete responses and

then conducted a further 10 in-depth interviews, we arrived at some broad conclusions that suggest global trade

management has begun to outgrow most companies’ largely manual processes. The highlights of our ndings

include:

• Three-quarters of the companies surveyed conduct trade across more than 10 countries, with almost half

(48%) trading across more than 50 countries.

• Over 41% of the companies surveyed import more than half of their products from international suppliers.

• More than 97% of respondents say that product cost savings are either “important” or “very important” business

drivers of international sourcing.

• More than a third (35%) of the companies realise more than half of their sales from customers located in foreign

markets. Further, over the next ve years, two-thirds expect their total share of international sales to grow by

more than 10%, while more than a quarter (28%) expect growth of more than 25%.

• Almost half (48%) of respondents say that an inability to control global transportation costs and the lack of

visibility of global shipments moving through the global supply chain are among their top 5 business challenges.

• Over three-quarters (80%) agree that shipments delayed by customs or experiencing customs problems are

impacting customer service in a material way, and nearly 90% say the same about unpredictable lead times on

international shipments.

• Over half (58%) agree that their inability to take advantage of preferential duty programmes or free trade

agreements is costing them a material amount today and unless corrected will only increase.

• More than 57% of respondents agree that complying with global trade regulations is one of the top concerns

they face as a global business.

• Only 12% of respondents indicate that their collaborative execution with extended global trading partners is

fully automated.

• Less than 4% of respondents say their import compliance is fully automated.

Among the most important overarching conclusions of this research is that loosely connected, ad hoc and manual

processes and systems will almost certainly be inadequate as supply chains continue to expand their web of

global trade. Anecdotal evidence from our interviewees conrmed repeatedly that visibility to and preparedness

for changes in the rules and costs governing global trade will be vital as companies seek to expand sales in new

growth markets and source more widely.



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MANAGING GLOBAL TRADE RISING IMPORTANCE BUT LAGGING EXECUTION 5

INTRODUCTION

Global trade is still growing – and fast

In a recent SCM World research report, Manufacturing Footprints: Getting to Plant X 1, one high-prole nding was

that many companies are reshoring manufacturing. A majority of the 300+ companies said they intended to bring

at least some of their production back from low-cost, offshore locations to home markets (Figure 1). The media

drumbeat around this topic, especially in the United States, has sometimes given the impression that global trade

is on the wane, with local manufacturing replacing the far-ung movement of product around the world.

Deeper analysis of this issue, however, reveals a more nuanced picture. The reality is that while low-cost country

sourcing, especially in China, has indeed given up some ground in cost competitiveness to higher-cost home

country manufacturing, most notably in the US, global manufacturing footprints now are being designed to serve

growth opportunities in what were once low-cost countries, but now are hot markets. The ow of product across

borders is increasing, not decreasing, and is now bi-directional or multi-directional rather than one way.

Import/export remain on a steep long-term growth trend

Our initial survey questions for this report were designed to get directly at this issue by asking specically about

trends in import/export movements. To set a baseline, we wanted to understand how broadly supply chains reach

in terms of number of countries involved.

Three-quarters of the companies surveyed trade across more than 10 countries, and almost half trade across

more than 50 countries. Nearly a fth operates in more than 150 countries (Figure 2). The typical trade compliance

department therefore needs to know everything about the rules governing sales into and sourcing from many

dozens of countries. Some of the larger, more mature markets like those in Europe or the US are reasonably

predictable and well organised, while many emerging markets including those in Africa and Latin America can

be ckle and confusing. Extreme examples, like Brazil for instance, may require knowledge of trade regulations at

the state as well as national government level. There is certainly a lot to keep track of in managing global trade.

Figure 1 The reshoring drive

6

37

43

14 We are looking to reshore most or all of our manufacturing for somecombination of cost, risk and market responsiveness improvements

We are probably going to reshore some manufacturing for symbolicor experimental purposes

We are not expecting to reshore any of our manufacturing

We are looking to reshore some of our production as part of a dualor multi-sourcing strategy

% of respondentsn=324

Source: SCM World survey, April 2013



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This global movement of product accounts for a substantial share of companies’ overall business. Over 40% ofthose surveyed import more than half of their products from international suppliers, with 18% saying that they get

three-quarters or more of their product supply from international sources (Figure 3). Among those most reliant on

global sourcing are businesses in the apparel, toys and consumer electronics industries. As a matter of urgency

then, global trade is life or death for the majority of supply chains we looked at.

Trendlines behind these gures show that supply chains in general are nowhere near the end of this movement

to a more global business footprint. Looking backwards, we see a huge increase over the past decade for both

inbound supply and outbound shipments. As we’ll discuss later, it is not hard to see why so many supply chain

organisations have found themselves working with manual systems, despite the huge importance of global trade

in effectively executing broader business strategies. With a weighted average increase over the past 10 years of

about 44%, many have found the job’s mushrooming complexity hard to keep pace with.

Looking ahead, most respondents see continued growth, although generally at a slower pace. These ndings

reect some of what we saw in our manufacturing footprint research earlier in the year where many companies

were looking to slow the rush to low-country sourcing. It appears that while global trade continues to grow, it is

doing so more quickly on the sales side than on the sourcing side. Nonetheless, expectations for future imports

still lean towards an increase by a slim margin (Figure 5a).

Figure 2 Global footprint

How many countries does your company currently do business in (sales and/or sourcing)?

25

2716

13

19

51-100

101-150

150+

11-50

Less than 10


Figure 3 Global sourcing

What % of your company’s sourced products/materials are purchased from international suppliersand imported versus purchased from domestic suppliers?

26-50

51-75

76-100

11-25

Less than 10


12

25

22

23

18



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Growth is expected to be faster on the sales side (Figure 5b). New business opportunities, especially in markets

like Africa, which was cited by some interview respondents in the consumer products and pharmaceutical sectors,

or China, which continues to show growing demand across industries, indicate that global trade will be even

more important ve years from now. Large countries that are still new to many businesses include India, where

signicant investment in automotive production is underway, and Russia, which is seeing substantial growth in

some luxury consumer goods markets.

BUSINESS DRIVERS FOR GLOBAL TRADE

As a matter of basic supply chain practice, global sourcing has always started with the quest for lower costs.

Responses to this study conrm the obvious – namely, that product cost savings are overwhelmingly the dominant

driver for global sourcing strategies. Also important is risk diversication as a rationale for global sourcing. Although

clearly second tier to cost savings, nearly 8 out of 10 respondents agree that risk mitigation is either “important”

or “very important”. This data corroborates what we found in our manufacturing study and suggests that concern

over international supply sources continues to increase.

Figure 4a Growth of international sourcing Figure 4b Growth of international sales

13

17

24

40

5

1 0 0

9

17

30

39

4

1

How has your company’s share of importedproducts/materials changed relative to domesticpurchases over the past 10 years?

How has your company’s share of internationalsales changed relative to domestic sales overthe past 10 years?

Moderate increase (10-25%)

Relatively stable (0% to +/-9%)

Moderate fall (-10% to -25%)

Signicant fall (-26% to -50%)

Substantial fall (-50%+)

Signicant increase (26-50%)

Substantial increase (50%+)


Figure 5a Future growth of international sourcing Figure 5b Future growth of international sales

510

3636

10

2 1 1 0

6

22

38

28

5

How do you expect your company’s share ofimported products/materials to change over thenext 5 years?

How do you expect your company’s share ofinternational sales to change over the next 5years?

Moderate increase (10-25%)

Relatively stable (0% to +/-9%)

Moderate fall (-10% to -25%)

Signicant fall (-26% to -50%)

Substantial fall (-50%+)

Signicant increase (26-50%)

Substantial increase (50%+)




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Among other possible business drivers for global sourcing, however, are two that are regarded as either important

or very important by a majority of respondents and are essentially interdependent with global trade management.

The rst of these is tax or tariff savings, which 38% say is very important. Typical of this factor as a determinant

of where to source product is the pharmaceutical industry, where transport costs are very low and intellectual

property generally the most important value-added component in manufacturing.

Preferential tax treatment in such cases is often the key determinant of plant or supply locations. VAT rules and

apportionment of losses across borders may also be used to achieve substantial tax savings, something which

Vodafone has done, for instance, by locating a central purchasing organisation in Luxembourg, but writing off

losses in the UK.

The second factor applies to those looking to win favour as an aid to accessing local markets. In many cases

this includes local content rules that apply in industries such as aerospace, solar power and telecoms, which are

often required to source a certain amount of their materials or components from local companies as a condition for

selling in that country. Many attractive high-growth emerging markets like Nigeria, India and Brazil impose such

rules. More than half (58%) of our respondents say such factors are at least important in global sourcing decisions.

Selling internationally is rising even faster than sourcing

In terms of international selling, most respondents see global trade as essential to future revenue growth. Given

that over 80% of our respondents are located in the US or Europe, this data reects what we have seen elsewhere:

new revenue is increasingly difcult to wring from such saturated, slow growth consumer markets. The business

imperative driving global trade is therefore an urgent need to nd new markets for existing products.

Figure 6 Global sourcing business drivers

In terms of international sourcing (imports), how important are the following business drivers for your company?


Very important Important Neither importantnor unimportant

Not very important Not at all important

Winning favour with/access tointernational markets 25 33 29 10 3

Unique material, technology orcapacity access 29 36 30 4

Risk diversication/mitigation 30 49 17 22

Tax or tariff savings 38 36 21 4

1 1

1

1

0

Product cost savings 71 27



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Respondents’ very high regard for establishing a market position for future growth (62% consider this “very

important”) suggests that many are willing to invest in new markets now for a longer-term payback. Compared to

those who look to international sales for immediate revenue growth (only 36% consider this very important), future

market opportunity is clearly seen as strategic rather than tactical. This means it’s worth taking the time to set it

up right.

Notably lower on the radar, however, is the importance of favourable trade terms as a spur to increased international

sales. It seems that government policy, while potentially important to plant location decisions or global supply

network designs, is still relatively weak as an incentive for a company to enter a market.

CHALLENGES OF GLOBAL TRADE

With a steady upward trend for both inbound and outbound product movement over the past decade and continued

growth anticipated, global trade is clearly an essential ingredient to a successful supply chain and business

strategy. Global sourcing, although slowing of late, continues to grow both in volume and complexity, while global

sales appear ready to keep increasing, and at potentially even higher rates in the future.

The challenges associated with managing this still expanding area cut across many functions of the business but

fall broadly into two categories: visibility challenges and compliance challenges.

62

54

49

20

18

36

38

35

38

44

51

7

28

23

12

30 7

7

9

12

5

3


Very important Important Neither importantnor unimportant

Not very important Not at all important

Figure 7 Global sales business drivers

In terms of international sales (exports), how important are the following business drivers for your company?

Establish market position forrevenue growth in future years

Open new markets

Meet customer demands forglobal distribution

Grow revenue immediately

Exploit favourable trade terms

Reduce dependence onexisting markets

4

1

1

22

2

0

0



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Visibility problems cost money

In the visibility category, specic challenges seen to have material cost impacts that are likely to increase going

forward include:

• Lack of visibility of global shipments moving through a supply chain – three-quarters of those that list

this as a top 5 challenge agree it has material cost impacts and is likely to worsen if not corrected, with 12%

strongly agreeing.

• Lack of consistent and timely collaboration with foreign suppliers – 80% agree this has material cost

impacts, with 13% strongly agreeing.

• Inability to grow international revenues fast enough owing to global supply chain constraints – more than

two-thirds say this has material cost impacts and is likely to worsen.

• Inability to control global transportation costs – 79% agree that this has material cost impacts, 21% strongly.

• Unpredictable lead times on international shipments – three-quarters say this has material cost impacts, with

more than a quarter (26%) agreeing strongly.

• Excess safety stock attributed to non-optimal supply chain performance – 87% of respondents say this has

material cost impacts, with 36% agreeing strongly.

Each of these issues represents a problem attached to uncertainty of supply, whether inbound or intended for

customers. The very high agreement among respondents across industries that excess safety stock is a material

problem pulls into one bucket the overarching cost burden of buffering against such uncertainty. It is clear that

visibility problems in global trade are creating expensive waste and undoubtedly edging at least some potential

growth markets from marginally protable to loss making.

Lean principles in supply chain have been deployed for decades to eliminate such safety stock, but much of the

progress here has been internal to a given geography where supplier plants are built next door to customer plants,

as in the case of Toyota’s manufacturing complex in Japan, or pull-based replenishment systems serving retailers

as in the case of Walmart in the US. International sourcing demands a solution to this visibility problem. Across

long distances, and especially across borders, lean principles are much harder to implement because visibility

goes from the reliable line-of-sight kanban approach to one dependent on poorly connected information systems.

Figure 8 Lack of visibility of global shipments moving through a supply chain

Is adversely impacting our abilityto compete and grow

Is one of the top concerns we faceas a global business

Is impacting customer service in amaterial way

Has a material adverse impact to ourproduction and/or distribution plans

0

0

Costing us a material amount today andunless corrected it is likely to increase 12

18

22

12

20 34 32 10 4

51 27 8 2

43 27 6 2

51 29 2

63 21 4


Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree



11/20JULY 2013


Figure 9 Lack of consistent and timely collaboration with foreign suppliers



Is adversely impacting our ability tocompete and grow


0

0

0

0


16

31

13

15 46 21 12 6

49 30 8

35 24 10

61 19 4

67 12 8


% of respondents

n=53


Figure 10 Excess safety stock attributed to non-optimal supply chain performance





00

0


26

20

6

9 39 30 18 4

44 33 15 2

39 30 4 7

53 15 6

51 13

Visibility problems also impact revenue

Many of the challenges seen to have material cost impacts also have damaging effects on other elements of the

business strategy, including:

• Almost two-thirds agree that poor collaboration with foreign suppliers is adversely impacting their business’s

ability to compete and grow; 31% strongly agree that this is a problem.

• Four out of 5 agree that supply chain constraints are restricting their business’s international growth.

• Nearly 90% agree that unpredictable lead times on international shipments are impacting customer service in

a material way.





Figure 11 Inability to grow international revenues fast enough due to global supply chain constraints



Costing us a material amount today and

unless corrected it is likely to increase



00

0

Is adversely impacting our ability tocompete and grow 30

26

19

18

19 46 30 5

51 28 3

51 24 6

49 23 2

53 17

Figure 12 Inability to control global transportation costs


22

18 49 17 14 2

212273722

24374017

20 31 35 10 4

60 14 4


Is one of the top concerns we face as aglobal business



0

Costing us a material amount today andunless corrected it is likely to increase


The implications of these ndings are especially concerning where top-line growth depends on nding new market

opportunities for established products, as is common in consumer products industries. The most challenging

situations are those where growth markets are low-income countries that demand lower price points, but are also

encumbered with complex trade regulations and poor supply chain visibility, as is the case in India among other

places. This added cost and unpredictability can make competitive market entry impossible in such situations.

A typical case is the supply chain for a global consumer packaged goods company with a European headquarters,

but a large and growing African business. The primary concern is not importing product from Europe to Africa or

vice-versa, but intra-regional cross-border trade on the African continent. In-country sourcing is seen to be sub-

scale in many countries, but shipping across borders is so complex and unreliable in terms both of regulation and

transportation that regional supply networks have yet to be built. The business opportunity is there, but hard to

reach because of global trade management complexity.



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Figure 13 Unpredictable lead times on international shipments






0

Has a material adverse impact to ourproduction and/or distribution plans 34

40

25

24 41 28 5

49 24 2

2

27323920

49 4 7

57 9

0

0

0


Compliance problems constrain strategy

Beyond visibility issues, global supply chains also face persistent and costly problems in terms of compliance to

the many and ever-changing rules that govern global trade. Challenges in this area, however, arise from political

or legal logic rather than economic logic and thus are generally less predictable than transportation, inventory

or other materials management matters. The key, as with any supply chain challenge, is nding a way to remove

unintended variability. Non-compliance is an important source of such unintended variability.

In the compliance category, specic challenges seen to have material cost impacts that are likely to increase

going forward include:

• Shipments getting delayed in customs or experiencing customs problems – 60% say this has material

cost impacts and is likely to worsen if not corrected; almost a fth strongly agree this is the case.

• Inability to take advantage of preferential duty programmes or free trade agreements – 58% say this has

material cost impacts, of whom 23% strongly agree.

• Complying with global trade regulations – 61% say this has material cost impacts, with almost a quarterstrongly agreeing.

• Managing trade fnance vehicles on international shipments – 71% say this has material cost impacts and

is likely to worsen if not corrected.






Figure 15 Complying with global trade regulations






0

Has a material adverse impact to ourproduction and/or distribution plans 18

20

24

15

15 36 34 15

43 35 7

37 30 7 2

41 22 17

47 22 10 3

0

0

Figure 16 Inability to take advantage of preferential duty programmes or free trade agreements

25

14

11

10

30 41 25 4

28 38 21 3

33 37 8 11

45 27 7 7

39 28 4 4


0Is impacting customer service in a

material way





0

Figure 14 Managing trade nance vehicles on international shipments

4

8

4

9

4 43 35 9 9

41 41 5 4

57 30 9

63 25 4

70 22 4

% of respondents

n=24

0

0








15/20JULY 2013


Many of the more memorable stories attached to problems managing global trade come from situations where

seemingly capricious regulations slow down commerce. Among these are:

• A new Argentinian requirement that every item imported must be accompanied by a photograph of the item

along with all customs documents.

• An unannounced policy change governing the importation of mining equipment to Indonesia that incurred a

$2 million ne.

• A food labeling rule change, without notication, that halted an inbound shipment of raw materials to India.

New supply was airfreighted in to maintain production, while the rejected ocean vessel fell into limbo because

the US Food and Drug Administration refused to allow back into the US product which had been rejected by

a foreign government. The stock was scrapped.

Compliance is not just a process problem – it’s about knowing the rules

The critical thing to understand while attacking the global trade management problem is that, unlike many supply

chain strategy issues, it is more about content than process. Visibility issues, as discussed above, lend themselves

to systemic solutions in which trading partners follow protocols for issuing purchase orders or advance ship

notices. Technology solutions that provide “control tower” capabilities are scalable ways to get better at leaning an

extended global supply chain. Compliance challenges, on the other hand, depend primarily on knowing the rules,

and especially keeping up with changes in those rules. Someone has to research the rules on an ongoing basis

and maintain accurate central knowledge constantly.

Figure 17 Shipments getting delayed in customs or experiencing customs problems








18

20

18

8

30

70

43

41

44

51

8

29

29

34

15

2

6

8

10

2

2

2

4

4

2





Many of the supply chain executives interviewed for this report relied on brokers, third-party logistics rms or other

agents familiar with local trade rules as a way to handle the problem. Where such agents are well-established and

reliable, so too will be trade through them. When entering new markets or engaging new sources, however, supply

chain executives must start afresh in looking for trustworthy partners. Such partners cost money and separate the

supply chain from its customer or supplier, reducing the ability to learn and improve. There is also the problem

of corruption, which adds cost, confusion and a serious threat of legal trouble where home rules, such as the US

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, may impact companies that get caught in such situations.

Solutions are lagging behind the problem

Considering how important global trade is to business and supply chain strategy, it is surprising how little most

organisations have automated or even supported it with systems. Over a quarter of our survey respondents

describe their collaborative execution with global trading partners as dependent on faxes, phone calls and e-mail.

Most say they have at least some electronic connectivity in the form of EDI or other automated transaction systems,

but only about 1 in 10 claims to have near real-time visibility to global trade movements.

Figure 19 Limited collaboration

How would you describe your collaborative execution with extended global trading partners(ie, foreign suppliers, global customers, forwarders, brokers, international carriers) today?

60

26

3 11

Extensive (fully automated near-real timeexchanges/status updates)

Limited (faxes, phone calls, e-mail)

Moderate (some EDI or other automatic/ scheduled communications)

None


Figure 18 How global trade is managed

What % of your global trade functions are you performing with internal staff andautomation versus outsourcing to third-party logistics providers?

64

36 Internal

Outsourced




17/20JULY 2013


Mostly manual or usingspreadsheets

Full automation with a globaltrade management systemintegrated with our ERP system

Some automation with one ormore point solutions providedby vendors

Some automation withhomegrown systems

Manage transportation rates and contracts for ocean andair shipments

Supply chain visibility to track inbound and outboundshipment status and calculate ETAs

Perform freight audit

Automate export regulatory compliance (restricted partyscreening, licence management, generation of shipping

documents, ling of export documents with governments)

Automate import compliance (electronic communicationwith customs brokers, landed cost calculation including

duties, licence management, ling import documents withgovernments)

Automate free trade agreement management (solicitingsupplier qualications, certication of shipments against

rules of origin)

Figure 20 Degree of automation achieved with global trade operations

24

27

23

36

43

31

31

34

41

34

34

35

31

31

33

26

22

31

14

8

3

4

1

3


In terms of specic capabilities and the degree of system support available, it clear that many companies are

relying heavily on disconnected systems, which are absolutely prone to error and unlikely to provide a single

version of the truth. Consider the following ndings:

• 43% say they handle free-trade agreement management (soliciting supplier qualications, certication of

shipments against rules of origin) mostly manually or on spreadsheets.

• 41% handle import compliance (electronic communication with customs brokers, landed cost calculation

including duties, licence management, ling import documents with governments) with homegrown systems

providing some automation.

• Only 8% say they have full automation with a global trade management system integrated to ERP for export

regulatory compliance (restricted party screening, licence management, generation of shipping documents,

ling of export documents with governments).





CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

Global trade is clearly a critical part of most companies’ business and supply chain strategies. For the purposes

both of nding lower cost sources of product and new markets to increase revenue, global trade represents an

irresistible way to grow prots and ultimately business value. Evidence that this attitude is strong and growing

is irrefutable.

And yet, tactical challenges associated with managing such large and ckle trading networks are certainly having

material adverse impacts on costs and the ability to compete for new customers in new markets. Data from our

study shows that despite the rewards of getting global trade right and the costs of getting it wrong, most supply

chains have yet to crack the problem systematically.

The most common way of handling trade management processes and the information needed to support such

processes is some combination of manual work in spreadsheets, clunky homegrown systems and arm’s length

relationships with third-party partners. For a key business problem whose main feature is unpredictable and often

politically driven rule changes, such disconnected systems are sure to fail.

Supply chain strategists wrestling with global trade should start by breaking the problem down into issues that are

classic supply chain visibility problems, and other issues that are about compliance. For visibility issues, the holy

grail is some kind of “control tower” type system capable of tracking shipments, orders, change notices, forecasts

and any other supply/demand balancing information for all to see. The notion of collaborative execution2 offers big

gains in efciency and faster cycles of improvement.

For compliance issues, the main problem is keeping abreast of rules. Given that many companies participating

in this research do business in dozens of countries, and that many of the most important for future growth are

immature politically, it is nigh on impossible to get everything right every time. Specialists whose business includes

constant updating of relevant rules may offer a subscription-based answer to this problem.

Truly successful global trade management depends on getting both the visibility problem and the compliance

problem right. A control tower system of some kind may be a prerequisite for success, but without accurate and

up-to-date content for compliance purposes, money will still be wasted.

REFERENCES

1 Kevin O’Marah and Dr Hau Lee, Manufacturing Footprints: Getting to Plant X , SCM World, April 2013.2 See the report Collaborative Execution: Speed, Innovation and Proftability , SCM World, March 2012.

http://www.scmworld.com/Research/Reports/Manufacturing-Footprints--Getting-to-Plant-X/http://www.scmworld.com/Research/Reports/Collaborative-Execution--Speed,-Innovation-and-Profitability/http://www.scmworld.com/Research/Reports/Collaborative-Execution--Speed,-Innovation-and-Profitability/http://www.scmworld.com/Research/Reports/Manufacturing-Footprints--Getting-to-Plant-X/http://www.scmworld.com/


19/20JULY 2013


ABOUT THE RESEARCH

Invitations to complete an online survey were sent to

corporate members of SCM World’s global community

and to other supply chain, procurement and operations

practitioners in June 2013. In total, 114 completedresponses were received during the three-week survey

period. This data was supplemented by telephone

interviews with almost a dozen executives.

Our thanks to Amber Road for sponsoring the research

and providing insights.

The key demographics of this sample are as follows:

Industry sector: Food & beverage (17%), CPG (14%),

industrial (13%) and healthcare & pharmaceuticals (9%) were

the sectors with the largest number of respondents.

Job function: Four out of 10 respondents dene their role

as supply chain, while 16% work in logistics and distribution,

11% in procurement and 9% each in operations and general

management.

Location: Almost half of respondents (46%) are based in the

EMEA region, with 39% in the Americas and 15% in Asia-

Pacic and elsewhere.

Company size: Half of respondents work for companies with

more than $1bn in annual sales, while 41% are below $1bn.

10% of the sample did not disclose revenue information.

Job level: 40% of respondents are at senior executive, vice

president or director level, with 49% at manager or head of

department level.

Food & Beverage

CPG

Industrial

Healthcare & Pharma

Logistics & Distribution

Professional Services

Utilities & Energy

Fabric & Apparel

Retail

Hi-Tech

Chemicals

Agriculture & Mining

Other

17

14

13

9

8

8

7

6

4

4

4

4

4

% of respondents

% of respondents

% of respondents

% of respondents

Supply Chain

Logistics/Transportation& Distribution

Purchasing/Procurement

Operations

General Management

Sales/Marketing/BusinessDevelopment

Other

40

16

11

9

9

12

3

% of respondents

46

41

15

10

14

16

4

11

4

39 Europe, MiddleEast & Africa

Asia & Australia

North & SouthAmerica

Rest of the World

Under $1bn

$1bn-$5bn

$5bn-$10bn

$10bn-$25bn

$25bn+

Undisclosed

29

49

11 11

SVP/EVP/Board

VP/Director

Manager/Head

Other



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SCM World Managing Global Trade September 2013

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