When it comes to supply chain management, Cisco Systems is the global leader. The Silicon Valley-based telecommunications company came out on top in market researcher Gartner's annual Supply Chain Top 25.Colgate-Palmolive, Johnson & Johnson, Schneider Electric and Nestlé complete the top five.
Cisco Systems rose from fifth to first position, thanks in part to revenue growth and a focus on circularity. "Cisco Systems' focus is on the circular economy, with a goal that 100 per cent of new Cisco products incorporate circular design principles by fiscal year 2025," said Mike Griswold, analyst at Gartner.
Participating companies were assessed by a team of 150 subject matter experts. To be ranked, they must record a minimum annual turnover of $12 billion.
The Supply Chain Top 25 is structured as follows:
- Cisco Systems (5)
- Colgate-Palmolive (1)
- Johnson & Johnson (8)
- Schneider Electric (11)
- Nestlé (3)
- PepsiCo (4)
- Alibaba (13)
- Intel (6)
- Inditex (2)
- L'Oréal (15)
- Walmart (14)
- HP Inc (7)
- Coca-Cola (20)
- Diageo (12)
- Lenovo (neu)
- Nike (10)
- Abbvie (new)
- BMW (25)
- Starbucks (9)
- H&M (16)
- British American Tobacco (new)
- 3M (17)
- Reckitt Benckiser (new)
- Biogen (new)
- Kimberly-Clark (new)
"With large parts of the economy idle because of Covid-19, leaders need an agile strategy so that the supply chain organisation can respond to change," said Griswold. "Our ranking consists of companies that have mastered these and other distinctive strategies."
According to Gartner, three key trends stand out this year that differentiate supply chain leaders from their competitors:
Purpose-driven organisations
Leading companies define their work by purpose, says Gartner. These supply chains recognise that solving world problems can only be done through collaboration in the broadest sense and radical transparency. "Through Covid-19, we saw the power and creativity of the supply chain community," said Griswold. "Clothing companies started manufacturing protective equipment and airlines converted unused warehouses into food processing centres. Those shifts would normally have taken months to quarters. Targeted supply chain talent, however, managed to shorten these timescales to a few weeks."
Business model transformers
Digital orchestrators
Companies in the Supply Chain Top 25 are early and frequent users of digital technologies. Investment in technology allows them to operate even under the toughest economic conditions, the researcher argues. "In the current climate, the natural tendency of many companies is to cut back on such investments. Leading supply chains are instead continuing to invest now, in things like real-time visibility, scheduling and agile delivery capabilities that are all well suited to today's fluctuations in demand and volumes."
Image: Valeriya Zankovych / Shutterstock.com
