Here's the problem with supply chain management (SCM) software in a nutshell: The more you spend to fix the problems with your supply chain, the more you realize how many more problems you actually have. This paradox is fueling interest in the supply chain as never before.
At the core of that interest is the fact that supply chains are more complex and mission-critical than ever before. And despite the billions spent on SCM in the past decade or so, the risks associated with supply chains are growing, not diminishing.
AMR Research presented data to back up that notion at its recent annual Supply Chain Executive Conference, which I had the rare privilege to attend (in the official capacity of an FOB, or friend of Bruce Richardson, AMR's chief research officer). The basic finding of a recent AMR survey was this: Every company is trying multiple methods of reducing supply chain risk, and very few are satisfied with the results of these efforts.
The problem is that risk is a moving target that increases faster than the increase in supply chain complexity, not to mention budget. In other words, the more complex your supply chain, the harder it is to manage — and afford to manage — the risk associated with that supply chain.