Gartner: Top supply chains of ’23 balance risk control, new growth channels

Companies faced plenty of challenges managing their business goals in a tumultuous 2022, but according to the consulting firm Gartner Inc., certain supply chains led the way with excellent results, with Schneider Electric setting the standard.

The 167-year-old, Paris-based Schneider Electric claimed the top spot on Gartner’s annual “Global Supply Chain Top 25” list, followed by Cisco Systems, Colgate-Palmolive, Johnson & Johnson, and PepsiCo.

Gartner compiles its list by creating a composite score for each entrant that includes weighted ranks for: peer opinion (25%), Gartner Research opinion (25%), return on physical assets (ROPA) (15%), inventory turns (5%), revenue growth (10%), and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) component score (20%).

"The leading companies on our list are notable for pursuing new avenues of growth at a time when disruptions remain a near constant threat. The best supply chain organizations are embracing the moment by both pursuing growth, while also evolving more sophisticated risk management approaches,” Mike Griswold, vice president team manager with the Gartner Supply Chain practice, said in a release.

"Schneider Electric’s work embodies multiple trends we see among top supply chain organizations this year, such as embracing an ecosystem approach that has helped reduce the carbon footprint of some key suppliers by 10% in less than two years,” Griswold said. “Sustainability continues to be front and center for the members of our list, with 19 companies once again achieving perfect ESG scores.”

The list also honors sustained performance with its “Masters” category of companies that have attained top-five composite scores for at least seven out of the last 10 years. This year that includes Amazon, Apple, P&G, and Unilever, although none of them made the top 25 overall. Lower down in the rankings, the top-25 list also included four newcomers compared to last year’s class, including Tesla (14), AB Inbev (22), GlaxoSmithKline (24), and Dow (25).

Regardless of their specific placement, the top 25 and masters companies embraced three common trends:

•  Identifying and Capturing New Opportunities. Supply chain leaders may feel caught between the CEO’s imperative to drive growth while their CFO seeks stability and a heightened focus on risk management amid a volatile economic environment. The best supply chain organizations are positioning themselves as a partner for growth, while also seeking to master supply chain risks.
• Driving Individual and Collective Progress. CSCOs are achieving high priority objectives by shifting from one-to-many networks to many-to-many ecosystems. These leaders are developing partnering and data sharing capabilities while shaping mindsets, and governance to build enterprise-, platform- and purpose-centric ecosystems founded on trust.
• Transforming the Way Their Organizations Work. Supply chain leaders are altering the ways employees approach their jobs by leveraging various technology solutions. These allow workers to maintain awareness of their environments through alerts and performance management, to boost productivity through physical and logical automation, and drive innovation and collaboration with others through connected platforms. Many of them consider the machines working alongside and in support of human workers to be an extension of their workforce.