DC Velocity - June 2015

44 DC VELOCITY JUNE 2015 www.dcvelocity.com technologyrevie w BY JAMES A. COOKE

SUPPLY CHAIN SOFTWARE

ONE OUT OF EVERY TWO SUPPLY CHAIN software deployments is falling short when it comes to delivering the expected return on the investment. That was the surprising finding of this year’s survey on supply chain software and how logistics professionals are using it. Designed as a follow-up to a study conducted last year, this year’s research looked specifically at which applications are most popular, what kind of payback they’re providing, and the challenges users face to successful deployment.

To conduct the study, DC VELOCITY teamed up with Boston-based Nucleus Research to survey readers of DCV and its sister publication, CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly, on their use of supply chain applications.

Two hundred and fifteen usable responses were received from readers of the two magazines; those responses formed the basis for the findings reported here. As for the type of business they worked for, the survey respondents covered the gamut, with 29 percent hailing from manufacturing, 21 percent from third-party logistics services, and 18 percent from the wholesale distribution side. Another 14 percent worked in retail, 6 percent in transportation, and the remaining 12 percent in “other” industries. Respondents came from organizations of all sizes, with roughly a third working for companies with annual revenues of under $100 million, a third for companies with revenues between $100 million and $1 billion, and a third for corporations with revenues over $1 billion.

WMS ON TOP AGAIN

So what software tools are readers using? As was the case in last year’s survey, warehouse management systems (WMS) topped the list, with 57 percent of respondents using this type of solution. Given that so many of DC VELOCITY’s readers are involved in running distribution centers, this came as little surprise. However, the survey did indicate some disparity in WMS adoption rates among companies of various sizes. For instance, 82 percent of respondents from companies with annual sales between $1 billion and $5 billion were using a WMS,

The pitch is that supply chain software will slash costs and take performance to new levels. But our exclusive survey finds that nearly half of software users have not gotten the expected return on their investment.