Gartner: Ranking of Top European Supply Chain Organizations for 2015

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Gartner, Inc., has revealed its annual ranking of the Top 15 supply chain organizations based in Europe at its annual Supply Chain Executive Conference 2015, which took place in London this week.

Gartner identified the top 15 performers, based on a combination of financial metrics (revenue growth, return on assets [ROA] and inventory), and the opinion of peers and Gartner supply chain analysts.

"The top three companies remain unchanged from last year, because they continued to demonstrate market-leading supply chain capabilities," said Stan Aronow, research vice president at Gartner. "We’re also pleased to announce that Schneider Electric, British American Tobacco and AB InBev joined the top 15 European supply chains this year."

"When assessing the supply chain rankings for 2015, we identified some common practices and challenges experienced by leading supply chain organizations in Europe," said Mr Aronow. "A willingness to invest in and experiment with technology and digital business models has given the top companies an edge in terms of collaboration, enhanced segmentation and local responsiveness."

Gartner has outlined below the key common themes of the top European supply chain organizations:

Global Scale, Local Responsiveness — Regardless of industry, these companies all have hundreds of sites, thousands of suppliers and operate in dozens of countries. They are working to set aggressive global targets, but allow flexibility in how they are achieved in local markets.

Multiple Models Through Segmentation — Whether to address new product categories, emerging markets, the shift to multichannel, or enhanced customer service, leaders apply segmentation to create a portfolio of standard models to meet different end-user needs.

Collaboration — Based on visibility enabled by technology, these companies work collaboratively across whatever network is required to achieve the goal. That translates to a focus on making sales and operations planning a true decision-making forum across functions within the supply chain, with internal business partners, suppliers and customers.

Digital Experimenters — Aware of the potential, these companies experiment with new products, packaging and operational approaches enabled by new digital technologies. Leading supply chains are investigating how they can digitalise their supply chain through Industrie 4.0 standards and the application of sensor technology and 3D printing.

Culture of Excellence and Masters of Change — For these companies, transformation is not a one-time project, it is a way of life. In addition to strong Lean Six Sigma continuous improvement, quality, and standardization initiatives keeping a focus on operational excellence, they have dedicated resources to dream up, pilot and drive disruptive change across the organization.

Investors in talent and technology — It is recognized and widely accepted by high-performing supply chain functions that technology facilitates execution. What these companies also recognize is that talented individuals create, drive and develop world-class supply chains.

Sustainability — Leading European companies are moving beyond token environmental targets to operational changes, because sustainability is highlighted in many corporate 2020 strategies. Leading companies target improvements beyond the high bar set by European regulators, with significant sustainability targets and projects affecting sourcing materials, supplier management, energy use, water use, waste, greenhouse gas emissions, product design and packaging design.

More information is available in the research note “2015 Gartner Supply Chain Top 25: Europe Top 15." The European Supply Chain Top 15 results were presented at the Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference 2015, held on September 23-24 in London, U.K. You can follow updates from the event on Twitter using the hashtag #GartnerSCC.

About Gartner

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. The company delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is the valuable partner to clients in approximately 10,000 distinct enterprises worldwide. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, USA, and has 7,100 associates, including more than 1,500 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 90 countries.