This Month in Modern: Working smarter

When Modern’s editorial team returned from ProMat 2015 in late March, we quickly realized that the majority of our conversations on the show floor didn’t revolve around the equipment as much as it did the software and supplemental technology designed to optimize systems in an effort to work “smarter.”

In fact, working smarter through the appropriate application of technology has been a running theme in Modern over the last few years—so much in fact that we’ve dedicated one issue a year since 2012 to a deeper understanding of technology adoption levels as well as the role providers are playing in pushing the trends.

One the most important building blocks of this special issue is our examination of Modern’s “Software Usage Survey,” our annual deep dive to gauge spending plans as well as how readers are putting supply chain software to work to improve operations.

And while we saw heavy investment in last year’s findings, this year we found software spending backed off a bit—but that’s not such a bad thing, according to John Hill, director at supply chain engineering firm St. Onge.

“Something is afoot,” says Hill, “but I don’t believe that it is a bellwether of a broad sector slowdown. We continue to see healthy activity in a number of areas, so it may simply be that companies are still in the midst of deploying the systems they purchased last year.”

Associate editor Josh Bond, agrees with Hill, saying this year’s findings point to a pause in spending, but reveal an acceleration in “data convergence.” Bond says it’s clear that end-users are looking to break down traditional silos and unify the warehouse, labor and transportation management systems that they just installed or updated. “This effort will better optimize activities across functions that previously didn’t communicate or work with one another. And while there’s a long way to go, the proper integration tools have emerged and are being put to work.”

The convergence trend and the need for “silo-free” collaboration in an omni-channel world is putting a spark into the numbers of this year’s “Top 20 Supply Chain Management Software Suppliers” as well.

According to Gartner, our research partner in this annual list, the market for supply chain management software, maintenance and services continued its growth in 2014, generating $9.9 billion in 2014, a 10% increase over 2013 revenues—a number congruent with last year’s user survey.

“The industry is in a replacement cycle, but we’re also seeing supply chain capabilities spreading into places like retail stores,” says Chad Eschinger, Gartner’s vice president of supply chain. “The goal is improved collaboration across a broader platform, which can drive much higher levels of efficiency.”

And while more users and providers are now working to fine-tune the connection with other elements across the supply chain, Bond adds that we’re also seeing the evolution of a deeper understanding of how to achieve true technological innovation.
“The consultative, systems-based approach is drawing end-users and suppliers closer, building more trust,” says Bond. “With that, users are telling us that we’re seeing more appropriate amounts of technology and training being applied where needed—further building on the understanding that the advancing capabilities of technology alone will not meet all the challenges of the future.”