Recruiting and keeping qualified workers remains the top challenge for supply chain executives, according to the industry’s annual report card on industry attitudes released Thursday at the ProMat 2023 material handling, logistics and supply chain conference in Chicago.
The report, published by the trade group MHI and consultancy Deloitte, found that 74% of 2,000 respondents, virtually all supply chain leaders, plan to boost their technology investments in 2023 over the past year. About 90% of those companies will spend 24% more than in the prior year, while 36% will spend 19% more, according to the report. The survey was conducted at the end of 2022.
Much of that investment is geared toward creating high-productivity roles that will appeal to people entering the field or transferring from another field, the report said.
The highest level of IT adoption over the next five years will be in the area of inventory and network optimization (see chart below). There, 87% of respondents expect to dramatically ramp up spending over the next five years. That was followed by investments in cloud computing and storage, sensors and automatic identification, and advanced analytics, the report said.
According to the report, the demand to adopt 11 different technological categories will rise significantly during the next five years.
About 57% of respondents said that hiring and retaining qualified workers was the biggest supply chain challenge. That was followed by the talent shortage at 56%. This year, however, supply chain disruptions, stockouts and increasing customer demands — all legacies from the pandemic — followed close behind, according to the report.
Companies are investing in new technologies to improve efficiency and to reduce the need for repetitive manual labor. These investments “create the kind of advanced technology environment that results in more rewarding supply chain jobs that appeal to today’s top talent,” according to the report, titled “The Responsible Supply Chain.”
In the meantime, 41% of respondents are reskilling or upskilling labor to support emerging technologies, according to the survey. About 34% said they were recruiting for skill sets for future needs, and 27% are building a culture of innovation that allows them to succeed regardless of the challenges at hand.
In a world in which disruptions will be the norm, most companies are planning to either partner with vendors or build and pilot their own technologies, according to the survey.
In years past, companies could get away with collaborating with a small set of supply chain partners. However, the supply shocks of the past three years have demonstrated the need to widen collaborative efforts and expand data-sharing capabilities, the report said.
Nearly half of the 2023 respondents said they are faced with increasing pressure from multiple stakeholders to become more environmentally conscious. However, only 23% have made compliance with reducing scope 3 emissions a top focus of their efforts. Scope 3 emissions are the result of activities from assets not owned or controlled by the reporting organization but that the organization indirectly affects in its value chain.
About 40% said that electrification was the top focus for sustainability. That was followed by natural resource management, water usage and transition to renewable energy.
By 2027, autonomous, connected and intelligent supply chains will be the norm, according to 87% of the respondents. Only 5% said the industry is there today.
In 10 years, digital supply chains will be the norm, with seamless end-to-end networks delivering transparency at all levels of planning and execution, according to the report.
“This means a future where companies have invested in digital transformation will see increased speed, connectivity and transparency” and will be “certain to benefit from data that is accurate, shareable, secure and actionable,” the report predicted.
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Stephen Webster
We need a system in place to provide housing to key works with $ from the gov and employees in parts of the country where a 2 bedroom apartment will cost more than 25 percent of the rent that these jobs are paying like in parts of ont and Vancouver Canada
Huron Easy Share
In Ontario Canada a number of companies including Costco and Canadain tire are having apartment units built for key employees in the G T A and going to rent for 60 percent of market rent . One company in Huron county bought a 34 unit building and to spend over a million dollars on upgrades and take 12 on bedroom units gut them and make into 6 larger 3 bedroom units plus a work at home office in 3 of the units. A private repair shop and a health care center for older people are spending over $10 million on a new building for employees and assist living room in some of the apartments. These place all pay over $27 cd or $20U S / hr plus
John silveira
It’s no such thing as labor shortage.
Only companies not willing to pay a decent salary and benefits to a worker,
No such thing a driver shortage, just companies prejudice against drivers who has a minimum scratch on they record, no matter how good and experienced a driver van be, most those companies are discriminating drivers for any thing. Besides not willing to pay decent salary, 35 years a truck driver haven’t had a increase of pay and benefits, most of us work 60 hours a week, to bring home less than 75.000 a year.. thats minimum wage or less, and most companies don’t pay overtime, and labor department support it. Minimum wage: fast food joint pay more than it. And they labor force doesn’t need to deal with all the pursuit a trucker deal with.
Minimum salary for a trucker should be 100k a year, minimum, some companies like Walmart, are paying that, for a regional driver, that salary should be for a local driver, regional and OTR live in the truck, 14 hours a day worked without proper pay, 24 hour with the equipment, even when sleeping we are securing it and the load, and not getting paid for it. That’s why no one wants to drive anymore.. trucking companies labor crimes against drivers, and labor department support them. It’s a easy fix, minimum wage of 100k for local drivers, and hourly pay for road drivers. Including per diem for guard the truck and load. Less pursuit from those so called agencies and law enforcement and those NGO and assossiations. Just leave us alone to do our job and pay us for doing it..
John silveira
This labor shortages, on this or that is not entirely true, specially on supply chain.
Surely is a lot of vacancies. And companies are having a difficult time finding good personal to employe.
But the major problem is; most those companies are extra selective, and if a candidate have a minimum of experience. They do not even respond to a applicant, most are not willing to train new employees, most have a mentality of ” experienced candidates only, and even so. A little scratch on they background check is enough to be burned, besides. HR recruiters will not check 2% of applications, that’s why they ” cannot find workers, they refuse to give opportunities to one’s willing to do the job, the second fault is pay grade and benefits; minimum wage will not pay anyone’s bills, so those corporations should become less greedy, and help workers help them out.i am a example 35 years. Trucker over 4 million miles driven, clean record and license, still 95% of my applications foe local work are not even reviewed, those who contact me for employment are not willing to pay the required, 28 00 a hour.. which is a low pay for a driver in connecticut, that’s the reason of lock of candidates. Company greed, and prejudice recruiters. Who discriminate and recriminations anyone ,without questioning them on the matter..