i2 Predicts Responsiveness and Collaboration as Key to Supply Chain Success Across Industries in 2010
30 Noviembre 2009 - 10:34AM
Business Wire
"Business as usual" is a thing of the past, as the world has
been dramatically transformed by the economic meltdown of the last
two years. According to supply chain thought leaders at i2
Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITWO), businesses must now approach the
marketplace with a new mindset and actively refine their supply
chains to be prepared for upward demand trends in 2010, while
managing to minimize their exposure to financial risks in a market
that will still be characterized by uncertainty. In addition to
helping organizations be lean and competitive, supply chains must
also stay closer to consumer needs and react faster to changes on a
global landscape.
“This is an extraordinary time in the history of global
economics and the supply chain is the lifeblood of the economy,”
said Kelly Thomas, senior vice president, Product Strategy and
Planning, i2. “We are committed to helping businesses build supply
chains that will not only maneuver through these uncertain times,
but are also poised for the economic rebound. Our predictions for
2010 are based on our more than 20 years of supply chain expertise
and a keen sense of how the market is changing.”
The industry-specific predictions from i2 include:
Manufacturers to Make Rapid Incremental Planning and
Inventory Optimization the “New Normal”
As demand became increasingly uncertain during the downturn,
businesses resorted to more frequent operational planning with
multiple scenarios and focused on optimization of inventory
deployment across their supply chains to free up cash. This allowed
manufacturers to keep operational efficiency improvements ahead of
declining demand. As demand recovers, companies will seek to gain
margin leverage on the efficiencies and productivity improvements
gained in the downturn. Processes and systems for rapid incremental
planning will become the “the new normal.” Smart managers will
demand real-time insight into operations as well as advanced
visibility with scenarios that allow them to “see around corners.”
Leading companies will implement closed-loop solutions for sales
and operations planning to standardize these new rapid-response
capabilities. Multi-echelon inventory optimization with frequent
review of deployment policies will become part of normal operations
at leading companies. In addition, new delivery models that grew in
importance during the downturn will increasingly become part of the
mainstream, such as cloud computing, managed services and
software-as-a-service (SaaS).
Brand Owners and Retailers to Synchronize Operations through
Shelf-Centered Collaboration
Consumers in mature markets have dramatically cut back on
spending. The household savings rate in the U.S. has increased to
as high as 6 percent from negative numbers only two years ago.
While this may have positive long-term effects, it will likely
create multi-year pressures on brand manufacturers and retailers.
This means brand manufacturers will be fighting for a bigger slice
of consumers’ constrained budgets. While price compression may have
become part of most business models, those who can break through
the clutter and re-emerge with brand strength will flourish in the
future. One logical strategy for building brand strength is to
extend the power and efficiency of supply chain collaboration to
the retail shelf. Today, delivering superior customer satisfaction
through shelf awareness is crucial to retaining customers, and it’s
the new wave in retail optimization. Retailers and brand owners
will increasingly deploy shelf-centered collaboration tools to
improve supply chain performance, thereby responding swiftly to
consumer trends, knowing customers’ buying preferences and opening
new revenue opportunities.
Shippers to Adopt New Partnership Models to Support the Green
Evolution
Driven by economic, social and regulatory pressures, global
shippers are seeking more cost-effective and sustainable ways to
move product from source to shelves. They have worked to streamline
and strengthen their own transportation networks, but in recent
years, the more eco-friendly companies have expanded those efforts
to include suppliers, partners and customers. To further reduce
their costs and carbon footprints, many large shippers will begin
to take steps toward forming collaborative partnerships in a
consortium-based business model. The multi-shipper collaboration
will leverage cross-shipper visibility, powerful analytics and an
innovative transaction-based exchange that encourages shippers to
share and optimize excess and available trucking capacity.
Meanwhile, small- to medium-sized shippers will look to deploy
transportation optimization solutions through SaaS delivery models
to stay efficient, responsive and earth-conscious.
Automakers to Restructure the Supply Chain Amid Power Shift
and Globalization
The global economic downturn has led to a complete restructuring
of the automotive supply chain in mature markets and an
acceleration of power shift to emerging players in Korea and China.
At current unit sales levels, China has already surpassed the U.S.,
whereas demand in the U.S. has fallen by more than 42 percent from
the peak year of the business cycle, which is the largest such
decline since the Great Depression. Even previously immune Japanese
manufacturers have been negatively impacted by the downturn. Amidst
this backdrop, global business processes for supply chain
management will become increasingly important. Japanese
manufacturers may re-evaluate their build-where-you-sell
philosophy, as their U.S. and European counterparts will run at
much lower volume-breakeven points and use the restructuring of
their dealer networks to run far leaner channel inventory profiles.
Korean automakers will leverage their global processes and
integrated supply chain management technology infrastructures to
continue to gain global share. All of this will lead to a renewed
interest in global order-to-delivery and lease-landed-cost sourcing
processes.
To speak with an i2 expert on these predictions, please contact
Rosalynn Vasquez at rosalynn_vasquez@i2.com.
About i2
Throughout its more than 20-year history of innovation and value
delivery, i2 has dedicated itself to building successful customer
partnerships. As a full-service supply chain company, i2 is
uniquely positioned to help its clients achieve world-class
business results through a combination of consulting, technology,
and managed services. i2 solutions are pervasive in a wide
cross-section of industries. Learn more at www.i2.com.
i2 Cautionary Language
This press release contains forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties, including forward-looking
statements regarding i2’s management team and its ability to
deliver results to i2’s customers worldwide. For a discussion of
factors which could impact i2’s financial results and cause actual
results to differ materially from those in forward-looking
statements, please refer to i2’s recent filings with the SEC,
particularly the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter
ended September 30, 2009 and the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2008. i2 expressly disclaims any current
intention to update the forward-looking information contained in
this news release.
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