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NewswireToday - /newswire/ -
Houston, TX, United States, 05/12/2009 - Resources Global Professionals (a multinational professional services firm) surveyed top supply chain executives regarding their key priorities for 2009 to identify challenges and objectives within leading global organizations (NASDAQ: RECN).
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Ninety percent of supply chain execs surveyed said cost containment was one of their highest priorities. Eighty-three percent also claimed the current economy has influenced their goals and objectives for 2009.
“What we are seeing from companies across the board is that while cost containment is an obvious goal in the current economic environment,” observed Bob Engel, senior practice leader, supply chain management at Resources Global. “Nearly all respondents want to upgrade their systems for greater efficiencies, but struggle to get the required funding to do so.”
Feedback and insight came from supply chain leaders within publicly-held and private global companies across North America, Europe and Asia. Industries represented included: energy, utilities, healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, retail, electronics, and food and beverage.
Key insights from the survey include:
• Cost containment is paramount.
• The struggle to move from transactional to transformational is universal. Nearly all respondents want to upgrade systems for greater efficiency but are laboring to obtain the funding.
• All are focused on making sure their key suppliers are better managed so they can work together to drive costs down.
• Supply chain execs are focusing on corporate areas of spend that have previously been off limits including legal, marketing, and advertising.
Top challenges for building a “best of class” organization include:
• Resources (people) constraints (budget)
• Margin pressures and pressures to provide substantial cost improvements/reductions.
• Limited budget funds for professional development.
• Finding and retaining employees with high leadership and process improvement skill sets.
• Flexibility to quickly change sourcing strategies to rapidly changing market conditions.
• Resources and budget funds to implement systems.
A summary of Resources findings includes:
• 67% have established a supply chain governing council or oversight committee to provide guidance and strategy development.
• 97% say that strategic sourcing is the cornerstone of their supply chain plan.
• 76% are pursuing or evaluating low cost country sourcing.
• 70% have conducted or are currently involved in purchase-to-pay process improvement review.
• 90% have a strong ERP system or are building one to support supply chain performance.
• 70% have a strong e-Procurement tool or will be improving the tool to enhance strategy.
• 56% will be evaluating a supplier relationship management program or strengthening one this year.
• 60% have contract management under their management within the supply chain function and nearly half believe contract management needs more focus.
• 63% have a logistics program in place but think that it needs more emphasis in the coming year.
• 87% consider inventory to be a priority issue and are focused on improvements.
• 67% will be decreasing capital expenditures for 2009.
About Resources Global Professionals
Resources Global Professionals (resourcesglobal.com), the operating subsidiary of Resources Connection, Inc., is a multinational professional services firm that helps business leaders execute internal initiatives. Partnering with business leaders, Resources drives internal change across all parts of a global enterprise – finance and accounting, information management, internal audit, human capital, legal services and supply chain management. Resources Global was founded in 1996 within a Big Four accounting firm; today, a publicly traded company with over 3,200 professionals, from more than 80 practice offices, Resources serves 2,400 clients around the world every year.
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kimberly.moeller[.]resources-us.com 
