In an era where supply chain efficiency and adaptability are paramount, new research from Accenture reveals that companies with advanced supply chain capabilities enjoy a significant competitive edge. According to the “Next Stop, Next-Gen” report, businesses that have embraced next-generation supply chain technologies are 23% more profitable than their counterparts.
This comprehensive analysis, which surveyed 1,148 companies across 15 countries and 10 industries, underscores the critical role of AI and generative AI in enhancing supply chain maturity. The findings highlight a stark contrast between industry leaders and their peers, revealing that leading companies are six times more likely to implement AI across their supply chains. This technological adoption enables them to derive substantial business value and maintain a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving market.
The Leaders' Edge: Higher Margins and Shareholder Returns
Accenture’s study identifies “Leaders” as the top 10% of companies on the supply chain maturity scale. These organizations have demonstrated remarkable profitability, achieving 23% higher margins than their peers (11.8% vs. 9.6%) between 2019 and 2023. Additionally, these leaders delivered 15% better returns to shareholders (8.5% vs. 7.4%).
"Leaders are investing heavily in increasingly sophisticated technologies—especially AI and generative AI—to build the next generation of supply chain capabilities,” said Max Blanchet, Accenture’s global strategy lead for supply chains and operations. “These capabilities are essential to reinvent supply chains for efficiency, agility, sustainability, and resilience.”
The Promise of AI: Efficiency, Innovation, and Sustainability
The report highlights that only 9% of companies leverage AI and generative AI extensively within their supply chains. However, among leaders, this figure rises significantly to 37%. These leaders anticipate substantial benefits, including reducing product development and launch times by 30%, enhancing eco-friendly product development, and improving engineering resource efficiency.
Despite these promising advancements, the overall supply chain maturity across industries remains concerningly low. The average maturity score has increased by over 50% since 2019, yet it still stands at 36%. This variation is evident across different regions and industries, from 22% in Mexico to 52% in Japan and 31% in consumer goods to 40% in aerospace and defense.
“Many of us are still running supply chains on a mix of paper maps and first-generation satnavs,” noted Melissa Twining-Davis, Accenture’s global operations lead for supply chains. “The next-generation capabilities that exist, such as generative design, highly automated facilities, and advanced analytics, are just at the beginning. The reinvention potential ahead is massive.”
Urgent Need for Transformation
The report underscores companies’ need to evolve their supply chain capabilities to remain competitive in today’s complex economic landscape. Traditional supply chain strategies, such as global low-cost sourcing and specialized factories in low-cost locations, are no longer sufficient.
Max Blanchet emphasized the urgency: “Reinventing supply chains requires the ability to monitor suppliers up to the fourth and fifth tier in near-real-time, change production on short notice, and simulate the entire lifecycle of a product. Companies with supply chain maturity scores of 25% or lower—almost one in three companies—must act fast to catch up. Otherwise, there is a real risk they won’t survive in today’s new economic and industrial context.”
Background Information
The “Next Stop, Next-Gen” report is based on a survey conducted in October 2023 involving over 3,000 supply chain executives from 1,148 companies across various industries, including Aerospace and Defense, Automotive, Chemicals, Consumer Goods, High Tech, Industrial Equipment, Life Sciences, Metals and Mining, Oil and Gas, and Utilities. The respondents hailed from countries such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
This research offers a compelling glimpse into the future of supply chains. It prioritizes the critical importance of adopting next-generation technologies to drive profitability, sustainability, and resilience in the face of ever-changing global challenges.
