There’s been a lot of chatter regarding the pros and cons of Web 2.0 technologies and their place in business in general and supply chain management in particular. And this has been particularly evident when it comes to developing end-user interfaces for IM&S procurement.
Coupa does a great job of describing some of the communication clutter that abounds in many procurement functions in their wickedly funny Coupa Sam Procurement Hero marketing ploy. But for some more hard on facts of the rise new technologies and their place in business McKinsey Quarterly might be a more secure source of information.
They recently published the results of a global survey targeting “How companies are benefiting from Web 2.0” and there are some interesting bits of information in there. The adoption rates and growth of Web 2.0 technologies is growing and though it is most evident on competence aspects, there are signs of adoption in supply chain matters as well.
- 51 % of respondents report measurable gains in access to external knowledge (+25)
- 49 % of respondents report measurable gains in lowered communication costs (+20)
- 37 % of respondents report measurable gains in supplier satisfaction (+20)
- 23 % of respondents report measurable gains in reducing supply chain costs (+12)
In times of turbulence and increased risk all of these aspects point to an increased usage of Web 2.0 technologies as communication and transparency are crucial to efficient supply chain management.
