Market Intelligence for Supply Chain Management
What relevance does market intelligence have for supply chain management (SCM) professionals? Rahul Dhingra, a MI advisor at GIA with hands-on industry experience in purchasing, procurement analysis, logistics, inventory management and strategic sourcing, shares some insights. He is also the author of "Market Intelligence for Supply Chain Management", a GIA white paper.
What is the significance of the white paper, Market Intelligence for Supply Chain Management?
“Prior to GIA, I was in supply chain management for about 10 years, covering all the SCM functions - from buying and contract negotiations to procurement and business analysis, inventory management, deployment, and strategic sourcing. During that time, I was not aware that MI services were available to me.
Looking back, I realize that if I had known that a firm could be hired to perform a deep dive on a company (whether it be a competitor or a supplier), or a country (looking for locations to set up a distribution centre), I would have found some budget for it. Not only did I not have the time to do my own research, I wasn’t prepared to conduct my own research projects (considering the amount of secondary and primary research, as well as the analysis that goes into it).
In the white paper, we help to point out how SCM professionals can best use the MI service offerings available to meet their intelligence needs.”
What can SCM professionals expect from MI in their strategic planning?
”MI offers insights into industries, sectors, market niches, clusters, companies, and so on. Knowing what suppliers, competitors and customers are expecting helps a firm plan its next strategic moves.
As a simple example, corporate purchasing directors can be caught off-guard if their suppliers or service providers have been acquired by or will be acquiring a competitor. If this information were available in advance, there would be a need to review the vendor shortlist and evaluation process. Clients would also need to review their production schedules, in order to allow time for their vendors’ acquisition integration. Good MI can make a real difference to the performance of SCM professionals.”
SCM professionals do not always receive the same research and analysis training required to perform professional MI. What pitfalls should they beware of if they were to conduct MI on their own?
"Certainly, learning the appropriate techniques for conducting an ethical RFP and understanding the limitations of logistics components of most ERP systems will not be enough to understand all the intricacies of conducting adequate research in the market.
Too often we find busy corporate purchasing directors making an assumption about the economic forecast of their sector or commodity prices, after reading an article in The Economist or the local business newspaper. Others rely on Google as their be-all and end-all source of secondary research. What they often miss is the important information found in industry reports and trade publications that doesn’t necessarily show up unless the right keyword search is used. There are also other search tools that enable more comprehensive article and source searches. Don’t even get me started on Wikipedia – yes, it is informative, but it is not necessarily authoritative!
Organized collection of relevant market intelligence, which thoroughly represents the state of the market, can help SCM professionals make more precise and cost-efficient decisions on how much of a commodity to purchase and carry in inventory, for instance.”
Visit GIA White Papers to download:
> Green Supply Chain Management in Asia-Pacific
> Market Intelligence for Supply Chain Management
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Global Intelligence Alliance (GIA) is a strategic market intelligence and advisory group. GIA was formed in 1995 when a team of market intelligence specialists, management consultants, industry analysts and technology experts came together to build a powerful suite of customized solutions ranging from outsourced market monitoring services and software, to strategic analysis and advisory.
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