As a business owner, the supply chain management strategies you put in place are crucial to your company’s success and continual growth. In fact, supply chain management can even affect brand image and B2B relationships as well if the wrong methods are utilized.

But, with a constantly changing market and disruptions that come and go each and every year, it can be difficult to know what trends are consistent, how to measure these supply chain data points, and what the ultimate takeaways should be.

For this, let’s first take a closer look at some of the most poignant supply chain management statistics below in order to see if a pattern exists.

The top 25 Supply Chain Management Statistics

1. It is estimated that the supply chain management industry will reach a valuation of $8.95 billion by 2024.
2. The Global Logistics Automation Market has the highest CAGR of any supply chain market, at a predicted rate of 12.4%.
3. 67.4% of supply chain managers use Excel spreadsheets as a management tool.
4. The #1 cause of global supply chain disruptions is mergers and acquisitions at 66%.
5. Other common causes of supply chain disruption include extreme weather (41%), factory fire (37%), and business sales (33%).
6. Supply chain disruptions can cause a massive 62% loss in finances.
7. The #1 cause of U.S. supply chain disruptions is unplanned IT outages at 68%.
8. 90% of the world’s merchandise is shipped by sea, which is exacerbating global inflation thanks to the rise in shipping costs.
9. 43% of U.S. workers are in supply-chain industries, employed either at lead firms or their suppliers.
10. Companies’ dependence on a single supplier has made the disruptions of the last few years even more impactful.
11. Only 22% of companies have a proactive supply chain network (meaning that the end-user is always able to address shifts in supply or demand before they become critical).
12. 57% of companies believe that supply chain management gives them a competitive edge that enables them to further develop their business.
13. 62% of companies have limited visibility of their supply chain and 15% only have visibility on production.
14. 30% of companies don’t analyze the source of supply chain disruptions.
15. Reducing supply chain costs from 9% to 4% can double profits.
16. Supply chains provide higher company growth through a wider selection of customized, reliable, sustainable, and delivered as rapidly as possible products.
17. 43% of small businesses don’t track their inventory. And 21% report that they “don’t have inventory.”
18. ​​On average, U.S. retail operations have a supply chain accuracy of only 63%.
19. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the estimated value for out-of-stock items was $1.14 trillion.
20. 81% of supply chain professionals say analytics will be important in reducing landed costs.
21. Businesses with optimal supply chains have 15% lower supply chain costs, less than 50% of the inventory holdings, and cash-to-cash cycles at least three times faster than those not focused on supply chain optimization.
22. 73% of supply chains experienced pressure to improve and expand their delivery capabilities.
23. 66% of consumers are concerned that supply chain issues will never end.
24. 75% of companies felt negative or strongly negative impacts on their business due to supply chain disruption.
25. The global supply chain market size value is $15.85 billion.

Identifying the Patterns That Matter

Although many of the statistics-based articles related to supply chain management share the data points openly, they don’t always take it one step further and help business owners to know exactly what to make of this data for the years to come.

With this in mind, we at Stimulus want to push further and truly determine what patterns, trends, and concerning data points business owners should recognize from this massive list presented above.

For starters, what you may have noticed from the 25 points shared in this article thus far is that many business leaders have far less than structured supply chain management and inventory systems in place. They also rely heavily on overseas suppliers and manufacturers. As a result, these companies are dealing with the effects of poor systems in a multitude of ways ranging from a loss in profits to a resulting poor brand image. On top of this, consumers are beginning to believe these problems will never stop and are opting for companies that are local and don’t rely on overseas inventory for their supply chains.

In the same regard, company leaders are now feeling and receiving pressure to repair their supply chain management systems. This is not only due to the expectations of clients but also due to the relationships garnered between these leaders and other companies that may rely on them for inventory purposes. The companies that are utilizing data and proper supply chain management systems as well as local suppliers are benefiting greatly from this forethought when it comes to profits, employee retention, and customer satisfaction.

Lastly, business owners should also recognize the increasing value in these industries as well. This ever-increasing CAGR is due to the fact that the supply chain management market is quickly becoming vital for supply chain resilience and efficacy.

Knowing all of this, the main takeaways from these statistics that business owners should understand are as follows:

• Company leaders need to work on perfecting their supply chain management systems using data and local supplier relationships.
• A great supply chain can increase profits and help build a better brand image.
• Creating relationships with local suppliers and having multiple supplier options is now crucial to success.
• The supply chain management and data markets are growing rapidly and the brands that jump on the bandwagon now are sure to benefit in the long run.

Now that you have a considerable amount of data and key takeaways to utilize moving forward, it’s time to take this information and revise your brand with profits, consumers, locality, disruptions, and data in mind. Just remember that data is truly the closest things business owners have to predicting the future — so use it!

To learn more about supply chain management as a new business owner, feel free to also check out our startup supply chain tips article as well.