How dependence on ERP providers may be stifling innovation

Dive Brief:

A corporate environment where budgets take precedence over innovation is eclipsing many companies' development, Lora Cecere, Founder and CEO of Supply Chain Insights wrote on LinkedIn.
A case study of electronics companies shows 90% of companies have been unable to progress, partly due to their over-reliance on legacy technology which is not updating at the speed required. Technology is changing so fast, there are now triple the number of laggard companies than there were 10 years ago.
Establishing clear goals for innovation, adopting cloud-based technologies, integrating autonomous vehicles, embracing machine learning and creating small innovation-focused teams will help supply chains adopt more quickly to a rapidly changing world, according to Cecere.

Dive Insight:

Despite the perceived lag, the abundance of startups and supply-chain innovators reveals a clear market for innovation.

In fact, companies are hungry for innovation, but the problem Cecere points out is that the legacy technology companies like SAP, IBM, Microsoft and Oracle, which control much of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) market may not be offering solutions quickly enough.

Instead, these companies often focus on acquiring successful startups to integrate their technology as APIs and advance their own competitive advantage. This big-company, small-company tech dynamic can stifle market access as clients throughout the supply chain, which only update technology periodically, wait for an update rather than seek out new solutions.

Cecere's recommendations will certainly help, but perhaps most important is noting the trend towards system-integration, often based on the cloud. Digitization is the path to the future, after all, and ensuring a company has a cloud-framework available will allow more frequent updates and open the door to a greater realm of APIs.

Whether the goal is visibility, traceability or real time freight rates — the technology likely exists already, it is just a matter of making sure you are looking for it and are able adopt it.