Chemical Processing - January 2008 - (Page 24) For many businesses today, the supply chain is an increasingly important factor in driving both efficiency and competitiveness — and the chemical industry is no exception. indeed, executives at chemical companies see the supply chain as critical and their companies have devoted significant effort to improving their supply chains in recent years. however, those efforts aren’t always producing lasting improvements and sustainable results. they often are hampered by fragmented approaches and a lack of sophisticated tools, which can lead to inaccuracy, inefficiency and missed opportunities to achieve better levels of business performance. those observations are based on findings from accenture’s “2007 Global chemical industry supply chain best practices study.” the second in a series — the first study was done in 2005 — this research was conducted under the guidance of a steering committee of representatives from major chemical manufacturers. the results of this research clearly underscore the growing importance of the supply chain in the industry. Faced with challenges such as global competition and global customers, increasingly complex operations and rising logistics costs, a growing number of chemical companies are focusing on the supply chain. in the 2007 study, more than three-quarters of respondents said that the supply chain is a driver of operational excellence or a significant source of competitive advantage. that view is supported by other accenture research, 24 • January 2008 which shows that solid supply-chainmanagement capabilities can be key to enhanced business performance. in addition, a team of researchers from accenture, stanford university and the French business school insead found that the average market capitalization of companies that utilize supply-chain best practices outpaced the industry average by 7% to 26% over a three-year period. www.chemicalprocessing.com http://www.chemicalprocessing.com
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