Disruption, Digitisation, Resilience

28 DISRUPTION, DIGITISATION, RESILIENCE : The future of Asia-Pacific supply chains reasons when asked about their primary goal for investing in technology (Figure 12). This was closely followed by customer service (35%), supply and demand forecasting (34%) and inventory management (33%). There are big differences across sectors in this context. Inventory management is the joint top area of tech investment for supply-chain managers in the food and beverage, general manufacturing and healthcare/pharmaceutical/ biotechnology sectors. But in a sector like automotives, investment in the manufacturing process remains of paramount importance for 66% of supply-chain managers, followed by supply and demand forecasts at 45%. Both numbers are higher than in all other sectors. Given the extent to which auto manufacturing has been caught short by production challenges and a failure to plan for the surge in demand for critical components, it is not hard to see why. the Asian Development Bank’s head of trade and supply chain finance, said in an interview: “The advances that have happened in the last five months or so would be the equivalent of what would have happened over the course of a few years.” 18 Many businesses are investing in digital tools and processes as they look to adapt their supply chains (Figure 11). The IT and electronics sector leads in this respect, with half the companies in this sector having increased tech investments to support their supply chains by 50% or more, considerably more than the 33% average across the survey. In the footwear and apparel industry, on the other hand, just 13% of companies have increased tech investments to the same extent. And what are the investments being made for? In what is a near-even split, 39% of supply- chain managers surveyed picked improving the manufacturing process as one of the two top Figure 12: Benefits of investing in tech Primary goal for respondents investing in digital tools/processes Manufacturing process Customer service Supply and demand forecasting Inventory management Trade facilitation Financial management Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit 39.1% 35.1% 33.9% 33.3% 22.4% 20.1% 18 Asia: Taking the lead on digital trade.” Global Trade Review . 2 November 2020. Available online at https://www.gtreview.com/supplements/gtr-asia-2020/ asia-taking-lead-digital-trade/