Global Smart and Mobile Supply Chain Solution Market

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The global smart and mobile supply chain solutions (SCM) market is at a nascent stage, waiting to explode in the next couple of years, finds a report by TMR. Some of the prominent names operating in the market are JDA Software Group, Inc., SAP SE, IBM Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Epicor Software Corporation, and Manhattan Associates. Among them, SAP SE, which has been the market leader in major SCM solution offerings, dominated the market with a maximum share of 24% in 2013. It has leveraged strategic acquisitions to enhance its capabilities. Oracle Corporation, another important name in the market, followed SAP SE in terms of market share. To augment its business, it has expanded its cloud-based SCM solution offerings and developed a number of SCM solutions based on SaaS architecture.

The global market for smart and mobile supply chain solutions is highly fragmented in nature. In a bid to enhance their market share and gain competitive advantage, many big firms have acquired smaller players. Revenue-wise, the global market for smart and mobile supply chain solutions was worth US$8.78 bn in 2015. Expanding at a strong CAGR of 13.2% between 2014 and 2020, it is slated to gross US$16.54 bn in 2019.   

Powered by India and China, Asia Pacific to Clock Maximum Growth

The global smart and mobile supply chain solutions market can be segmented based on end-use application into retail, IT and telecommunication, manufacturing, banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), government, energy and utility, healthcare, logistics and transportation, and others such as aerospace, hospitality, and so on. Retail among them holds maximum share in terms of revenue and is expected to marginally increase its dominant share in the upcoming years. The revenue in the segment was worth US$1.63 bn in 2015.

Geography-wise, the market can be segmented into Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East, and Africa (MEA). North America dominates the market with the maximum share followed by Europe on account of the growing awareness among supply chain service providers about customer value and the rising volume of information generated by supply chain activities. While prominent players in the market are currently concentrated in the two continents, Asia Pacific is slated to provide stiff competition to the regions by clocking maximum growth rate. New manufacturing hubs in rapidly developing economies of India and China are driving the demand for strategic sourcing and procurement applications.

Better Connectivity and Availability of Information Fillip Growth

The primary growth driver in the global market for smart and mobile supply chain solutions is the availability of instrumented, interconnected, and intelligent information. The lead analyst of the report elaborates, “The key activity in SCM is the supply and distribution of goods. Supply chain activities are responsible for generating information and collecting those from various manufacturers, retailers, and wholesalers. With ever-increasing compliance mandates, information flow from suppliers and retailers is multiplying, making supply chains costlier, more vulnerable, and highly complex. With the development of smart and mobile supply chain solutions, information that was previously created by people is now produced and gathered by machines. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, sensors, actuators, global positioning system (GPS), meters, and other devices are used for information gathering. Connectivity among the entities of supply chain is expected to play a major role in its efficient management.”

A factor restraining the growth in the market is the volatility of cost, which hampers the efficacy of smart supply chain solutions. “Rising fuel prices, for example, impact SCM significantly, have led to the reevaluation of distribution strategies, third-party engagement, and load sharing with competition,” explains the analyst.