For several years now, Spend Matters has been collecting and publishing a series of articles about predictions and insights on procurement, supply and services trends for the year ahead from expert tech and service providers in the market.
This year is no different and we’ve framed the subject around “insights,” highlighting providers’ observations from the year they’ve left behind and how they see them shaping the year ahead.
This series will run from mid-December to mid-January, then our analyst Bertrand Maltaverne will wrap up with his own take on the key themes that emerge.
In no order of preference, other than by the date they dropped into our digital letterbox, today let’s hear from Ron Giles, Strategic Sourcing Director at LevaData.
The shortage of supply chain talent isn’t really the issue
Labor scarcity continues to be a hot topic for supply chain and procurement leaders. The perceived talent shortage worsened with the pandemic and continued throughout 2022 with ongoing market volatility and inflationary pressures.
Historically, experts have focused on the shortage of available resources or teams lacking the necessary skills. However, a new mindset is emerging. Gartner recently stated that by 2025, “‘labor volatility’ will cause 40% of organizations to report a material business loss, forcing a shift in talent strategy from acquisition to resilience.”
Throwing money or additional people at the labor problem is simply not prudent during inflationary times. While labor shortages may be an issue for some industries — like retail, shipping and logistics — for most manufacturing companies, adding additional people creates additional expenses without addressing the key issue: a lack of digital systems and workflows that drive actionable insight and intelligence.
The most progressive manufacturing companies are focused on strengthening their supplier base. These companies are renewing their investment in empowering supply chain and procurement teams with highly automated and efficient systems that can easily be used by a trained workforce.
In this new world, digitalization is enabling workers to focus on higher value tasks and perform their jobs in a more impactful, effective and rewarding way. Leaders are realizing that adding additional people without looking for ways to transform how work is done is a missed opportunity. In 2023, we will see more companies grasp this opportunity and truly take advantage of available technology so their teams can deliver immediate business value with greater efficiency and job satisfaction.
Thanks to LevaData for being a part of the series, and look out for more insights for the year ahead.
If you need to find the right procurement technology and provider for your business needs next year, Spend Matters “Procurement Technology Buyer’s Guide” and TechMatch can help.
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And if you are looking for procurement services providers to help you with your 2023 decisions, look no further than our Procurement Services Market Landscape Directory.
