Lean manufacturing wannabes now spending more on supply chain systems
1 min read
Manufacturers facing increasing competition, cost and margin pressures are increasingly turning to supply chain management systems to support the next phase of their lean strategies – and that’s throughout batch, process and discrete industries.
Those are among findings by analyst Datamonitor, published today in its report ‘Streamlining Production’.
“Manufacturers are finding that their supply chains are becoming increasingly complex, and are having a greater impact on their overall business,” observes Adam Jura, manufacturing technology analyst at Datamonitor.
And that’s come at a time when the capabilities of modern SCM suites have improved significantly, while software vendors are increasingly offering solutions that fit the needs – and budgets – of smaller manufacturers.
“These factors are causing growth in the SCM market,” says Jura. Indeed, he estimates that supply chain management software revenues will reach $2.5bn across manufacturing world-wide by 2010 – up from $1.6bn in 2005 – driven by business strategies like lean thinking and demand-driven supply chains.
“What makes for interesting reading is the high priority being given to products and really driving revenues,” says Jura. “Product differentiation, time to market and post-sales support are major focuses for manufacturers. For many of the associated processes, these companies will be looking to their technology partners for support.”
