Global Supply Chain Survey: Key Challenges and Opportunities in the High Technology Sector

Few business sectors change as swiftly as the high technology industry. Business decision-makers working for manufacturers, distributors and OEMs of technology-related hardware and software products and services continually face new challenges that fully test their business acumen.

In an industry where it is common for a product’s lifespan to be short-lived (this research shows that roughly one out of three companies develop products where the average lifecycle is under one year and almost one-half manufacture or distribute products having a lifecycle of 18 months or less), the ability to predict product demand and understand the risks in supply chain management becomes critical. Leaders understand this and work to adopt precise strategies and applications to manage and optimize supply chain systems as supply chains become global and more complex.

This paper presents results from a study conducted in January 2011 by Supply Chain Management Review, in conjunction with Oracle Corporation and Infosys Technologies. High-tech executives—mostly belonging to companies that do business globally—were surveyed to find their views on supply chain challenges and the effectiveness of various supply chain capabilities in place at their firms.

You can also download for free the Research Brief by visiting our Webcast: “Achieving Supply Chain Excellence in the High Technology Industry” (which describes the Research Brief and explores the challenges high tech executives face and benchmark strategies used to create world-class supply chain management.).