Firms urged to outsource supply chain management

Gartner says companies should focus on what they do best and leave the rest to partners

Companies should consider using outsourcers to manage their supply chain activities, as they will often have superior technology.

This is according to a report from analyst firm Gartner, which says leveraging an outsourcing partner's processes, technologies and capabilities can be the best way of managing a supply chain.

"Supply chain executives are starting to apply more comprehensive analysis to outsourcing decisions. These will factor-in agility, responsiveness and cost," said Michael Dominy, research director at Gartner.

"Companies must focus on what they can do best and appropriately outsource activities that value chain partners can do better," he added.

"This often means using logistics, manufacturing or business process outsourcing partners, instead of performing these supply chain activities themselves."

Gartner also said that companies need to improve data flow and information visibility when outsourcing supply chain processes.

It suggested that data relating to inventory levels, customer orders and master data should be visible and shared weekly.

Ideas for improving the overall supply chain performance should also be exchanged and discussed by operational and management personnel on a regular basis.