data ( 3 percent); usability ( 2 percent); integrity ( 6
percent); and consistency ( 4 percent).
“Data is the foundation the ‘house’ sits on,”
observes Richard Sharpe, chief executive officer of
Competitive Insights. “The survey results clearly
show that there are cracks in that foundation—
cracks in companies’ ability to bring data together,
integrate it, have confidence in it, and believe that
it is consistent. To take advantage of big data analytics, we have to do better in all four categories.”
If companies are only partially satisfied with the
data they’re getting, the logical question to ask is,
exactly what software solutions are they currently
using to gather that data? Overwhelmingly, the
tools in heaviest use are not advanced analytics
or business intelligence solutions. Nor are they
operational point applications like warehouse
management systems. Despite the availability of
an array of sophisticated analytics software, the
most widely used tool for managing supply chain
data today is still Excel spreadsheets (Exhibit 2).
Despite their dependency on spreadsheets,
users aren’t necessarily happy with Excel as a data
management tool. “Our survey shows that Excel
is very negatively associated with user satisfaction
in terms of usability, integrity, and consistency of
data,” Dale Rogers, ON Semiconductor Professor
of Business at Arizona State University, reports.
“The problem with Excel is that everyone builds
their own spreadsheets, so there’s no consistency,
no single version of the truth that’s shared across
departments. That makes it very difficult to trust
the data sufficiently to make big decisions across
departments.”
The survey also found that, not unexpectedly, large com-
panies rely on their enterprise resource planning (ERP)
systems to run the financials of the business. But for supply
chain professionals, ERP has shortcomings.
“Supply chain folks don’t really like ERP that much,”
notes Zac Rogers, assistant professor of supply chain man-
agement at Colorado State University. “Many do not think
the data that comes out of ERP systems is very useable for
their purposes. They find it too rigid. They also lose the
granular operational data they used to get with older supply
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
No Use
Infrequent
Use
Occasional
Use
Some Use
Regular
Use
Frequent
Use
Heavy
Use
Percentage of Respondents
; Spreadsheets (such as Excel)
; Operational point solutions (for example, transportation management
and warehouse management systems)
; Advanced analytical tools associated with enterprise resource
planning (ERP) systems
; Business intelligence (BI) tools (for data mining and visualization)
; Other technologies that provide recurring analytical insights (for example,
databases, SQL, control towers)
To what extent does your company currently use the following
types of technology to support your supply chain analytics?
EXHIBIT 2
Types of technology
es, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals.
Supply chain management ( 26 percent) was most
often cited as respondents’ primary functional responsibility, followed by logistics ( 19 percent), warehousing
and distribution ( 15 percent), and corporate management ( 13 percent). Sixty-six percent of respondents said
their companies have annual gross revenues of less than
US$1 billion, 24 percent reported revenues between $1
billion and $15 billion, and 10 percent said their revenues ran to more than $15 billion.
As for titles, the largest contingents were manager/
supervisor, with 41 percent, and senior manager/direc-
tor, with 31 percent. A small number identified as vice
president/senior vice president and corporate officer/
president (both 7 percent); the rest included analysts,
engineers, and other titles.
Over time, this annual survey will track, in the aggregate, companies’ progress in using big data analytics in
supply chain management. The research team encourages this year’s respondents to continue their participation and is seeking additional participants for the
2018 survey. For more information about how to participate, please contact Dr. Zac Rogers at Zac.Rogers@
colostate.edu.
