Study: Purchasing, logistics and operations professionals acknowledge collaboration shortcomings

A new study has found organizations that closely integrate supply chain functions, cultures, metrics and operations – especially ties between purchasing and logistics—deliver better business results.

These are among the results from a new study from the Global Supply Chain Institute (GSCI) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, which reflects the views of more than 180 supply chain professionals.

In a recent interview, Mike Burnette, supply chain executive for GSCI, said advances in recent years and global progress in terms of business process integration were steady. However, in a key part of the study, a number of purchasing and logistics professionals acknowledged pitfalls resulting from their lack of collaboration, ranking performances below expectations in areas that required the two groups working together.

“This research suggests that some of the silos have stubbornly persisted,” said Burnette. “This is particularly true with regard to supply chain integration and especially the connection between purchasing and logistics functions. Some companies even still have separate budget lines for the two, which was surprising to me; I didn’t think anyone did that anymore.”

Click here to read the full story and more study highlights at the Modern Materials Handling website.