SCE applications push growth of SCM market to 8.6 percent annually

A study by the ARC Advisory Group says that Supply Chain Execution applications will help drive growth in the Supply Chain Management market. The worldwide market for Supply Chain Management is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.6 percent over the next five years. The market was $5,507 million in 2005 and is forecasted to be over $8,304 million in 2010.

Supply Chain Management (SCM) applications include execution applications like Warehouse and Production Management which operate in near real-time, as well as planning applications that create plans to be fulfilled over longer horizons. Whereas growth in the planning segment will be anemic, growth in the much larger execution segment will be the true market driver, according to ARC Advisory Group’s new study entitled “Supply Chain Management Worldwide Outlook: Market Analysis and Forecast through 2010”.

Supply Chain Execution (SCE) solutions include Collaborative Production Management, Warehouse Management, and Transportation Management. Within the SCE segment, growth is higher among the manufacturing applications than it is for logistics applications. “Contributing to growth is increased demand from developing regions that are constructing new plants and purchasing best-in-class solutions to achieve world-class manufacturing capabilities and have their products well accepted around the world,” saidTom Fiske, Ph.D., Senior Analyst at ARC Advisory Group. Fiske continues, “As global competition increases, existing manufacturing facilities are under incredible pressure to improve their Return on Assets (ROA). To achieve higher levels of performance, these plants are adopting more solutions that better link manufacturing operations with business objectives, that increases their flexibility and agility, and that synchronizes their supply chain operations.”

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