A lack of cross-functional expertise across departments is the biggest issue facing supply chain executives in 2011, a survey by SCM World has found.

More than 400 supply directors were surveyed in the Supply Chain Predictions for 2011 survey.  47.2% said that despite an awareness among companies of the need for supply chains to be customer-focused and collaborative, this is not being achieved.

Amongst the key pressure points mentioned were:

  • Supplier capacity shortage and constraints (50.6 per cent)
  • Increasing supply chain complexity (51.0 per cent)
  • Rising transportation costs (50.6 per cent)
  • Increasing commodity pricing (54.5 per cent)
  • Demand volatility (62.7 per cent)

Dealing with volatility in demand caused by increased price sensitivity brought about by the recession was found to be a priority in 2011, with those surveyed focusing on customer service, inventory optimisation, sales and operational planning and supply/demand balancing to deal with unpredictable demand patterns.