Rockwell Automation pinpoints top priorities behind corporate supply chain strategies

12 Jul 2022 --- Rockwell Automation, the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, is revealing that digital transformation, environmental sustainability initiatives, and customer experience (CX) improvements are among the top priorities driving the development of new corporate supply chain strategies, according to a new study conducted by Forrester Consulting.

The Forrester Consulting research study, “Increase Brand Loyalty and Generate Return on Investment (ROI) with Improved Traceability,” was commissioned by Rockwell Automation to understand the degree to which environmental, social, and governance commitments, external regulatory demands, and brand reputation drive private-sector interest in supply chain traceability solutions.

While compliance remains a key driver of new investments in supply chain management, demands related to environmental sustainability and customer experience have propelled these strategic shifts. In fact, 57% of supply chain decision-makers have already implemented or are expanding initiatives that will reduce waste within their supply chain.

“This study confirms that enterprises are experiencing how traceability can nurture brand loyalty and optimize their supply chains, and mitigate the impact of counterfeits in key markets, among other priorities,” comments Matt Fordenwalt, vice president and general manager for systems and solutions at Rockwell Automation.

The survey’s key findings include:

• Environmental sustainability and visibility lead the charge for better customer experience: While some companies are knee-deep in their digital transformation efforts, those types of efforts are evolving for the current landscape. Companies are turning to traceability to enable new sustainability and visibility-related CX initiatives. Sixty-two percent of respondents said they are using traceability data to improve the customer experience and products.
• Traceability initiatives remedy counterfeiting and diversion: Nearly half (47%) of respondents say their companies lose 11% to 60% of sales income each year due to counterfeiting, and 89% say gray market diversion is problematic for them. But the lack of clear ROI prevents 45% of respondents from implementing traceability and serialization, which can mitigate these challenges.
• An enterprise’s success hinges on full supply chain visibility, swift product recalls, and better brand loyalty: 79% of respondents said full visibility into where products are in the supply chain is critical or important to their company’s success, while 78% said the same for the ability to quickly recall the right products. In addition, 77% cited brand loyalty improvement through better product management. 

Traceability and serialization solutions
Forrester Consulting’s research is based on a January 2022 survey of 307 global supply chain decision-makers about their use of or interest in traceability and serialization solutions to optimize their supply chain.

The survey found that 45% of companies that have invested in serialization have seen over a 31% increase in sales.The survey found that 45% of companies that have invested in serialization methods have seen over a 31% increase in sales due to serialization.

“While companies are already seeing some success from serialization initiatives, those that invest in more comprehensive traceability solutions often see improved data ownership, cost savings from reduced counterfeiting and gray market diversion, and higher customer satisfaction,” says Christine Akselsen, CEO of Kezzler, a company that deploys patented serialization technology to help clients overcome counterfeiting and other challenges.

Rockwell Automation’s supply chain capabilities combined with Kezzler’s cloud-based traceability technologies help customers connect suppliers, manufacturing, logistics, and consumers into one real-time traceability platform.

Rockwell and Kezzler have already created traceability solutions for customers like FrieslandCampina, one of the world’s largest dairy companies.

Edited by Joshua Poole