Sydney, Australia, August 27, 2013 – Global research and advisory firm Gartner, Inc. has published its annual ranking of the top performing supply chain organizations headquartered in Asia Pacific. The goal of Gartner’s annual Supply Chain Top 25 research initiative is to raise awareness of the supply chain discipline and how it impacts the business.
Gartner research director Debashis Tarafdar said supply chain executives could apply the best practices from these leaders to improve their operations in the region.
“Mixed economic performance, volatility of demand, rising costs, a tighter labor market, a shortage of talent and regulatory pressures continue to weigh on Asia Pacific supply chains in 2013,” said Mr. Tarafdar.
Despite some key challenges, supply chain leaders in Asia Pacific demonstrated commitment to demand-driven excellence.
“To improve long-term supply chain stability, we see many organizations investing significant resources in re-evaluating their supply network, developing lean manufacturing practices and creating multitier supply chain visibility,” said Mr. Tarafdar. “As supply chains increasingly become a key differentiator and an enabler of business growth, talent acquisition and retention assumed high priority as well. In addition, most organizations adopted either a hybrid or local leadership model that effectively addresses the cultural differences between various countries.”
The Asia Pacific top 10 reflects these trends (see Table 1). Overall, the three-year weighted average revenue growth for the top 10 Asia Pacific companies slowed down almost 25 percent year over year.
Samsung Electronics (No. 1) retained its leadership position among companies in Asia Pacific, moving up five slots in the worldwide ranking from No. 13 to No. 8. With a vision of gaining competitive advantage through product and process excellence, it achieved first place in 2012 for smartphone and overall mobile phone sales worldwide. The company’s advanced and highly integrated supply chain spans product, process and people, a key reason for Samsung’s success.
Lenovo (No. 2) moved up two spots from 2012, backed by impressive revenue growth and inventory turns. It also improved its global ranking by 23 spots, placing the organization at No. 20 for 2013. Lenovo’s hybrid supply chain model demonstrates advanced segmentation and supply chain analytic capabilities, which helped the company to reduce costs while significantly improving delivery performance. With over one-half of all its global sales coming from Asia Pacific and Latin America, Lenovo’s continued focus on this region, coupled with an improved speed to market, accelerated its move toward leadership in an otherwise depressed global PC sector.
Five new companies entered the top 10 in 2013 compared to last year: Haier, Flextronics, Honda Motor, Canon and LG Electronics.
Table 1. 2013 Gartner Supply Chain Top 10: Asia Pacific
2013 Asia/Pacific Ranking | 2013 Overall Ranking | Company | Return on Assets (ROA) 1 | Inventory Turns 2 | Revenue Growth3 | Composite Score 4 |
1 | 8 | Samsung | 11.6% | 18.5 | 15.7% | 4.35 |
2 | 20 | Lenovo | 2.5% | 22.2 | 29.8% | 2.75 |
3 | 32 | Haier | 9.0% | 10.5 | 17.3% | 1.85 |
4 | 33 | Hyundai Motor | 9.3% | 18.6 | 8.4% | 1.85 |
5 | 36 | Tata Motors | 7.0% | 6.3 | 33.1% | 1.73 |
6 | 58 | Toyota Motor | 1.0% | 10.7 | -2.5% | 1.39 |
7 | 71 | Flextronics | 3.8% | 7.7 | 2.7% | 1.24 |
8 | 85 | Honda Motor | 2.7% | 6.7 | -7.1% | 1.03 |
9 | 91 | Canon | 6.0% | 3.3 | 0.8% | 0.90 |
10 | 94 | LG | -1.6% | 20.0 | -6.8% | 0.86 |
2013 Top 10 Average | 5.1% | 12.4 | 9.1% | 1.79 | ||
2012 Top 10 Average | 6.1% | 12.2 | 12.2% | 1.76 | ||
Average % change (2012 to 2013) | -16.4% | 2.2% | -25.1% | 1.9% | ||
Notes: | ||||||
Source: Gartner (August 2013)
According to Gartner, more organizations from Asia Pacific will strive to dominate the world stage by creating a demand-driven global value network with local execution capabilities. Some companies working toward this goal did not make it onto the Supply Chain Top 25 this year, but Gartner will track these organizations and their supply chain best practices through subsequent research on the Supply Chain Top 25 in Asia Pacific.
More detailed analysis is available in the report “2013 Gartner Supply Chain Top 25: Asia/Pacific.” A complimentary copy is available at http://www.gartner.com/document/2573815
About the Gartner Supply Chain Top 25
Gartner’s annual Supply Chain Top 25 rankings comprise two main components: financial and opinion. Public financial data gives a view into how companies have performed in the past, while the opinion component provides an eye to future potential and reflects future expected leadership, a crucial characteristic. These two components are combined into a total composite score.
Gartner analysts derive a master list of companies from the Fortune Global 500 and the Forbes Global 2000, with a revenue cutoff of US$10 billion. Gartner then pares the combined list down to the manufacturing, retail and distribution sectors, thus eliminating certain industries, such as financial services and insurance. For more information, please visit http://www.gartner.com/supplychaintop25
Gartner managing vice president Debra Hofman will host a webinar about the latest Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 rankings, highlighting the trends and what differentiates the leaders on 19 September 2013. For more information and to register or listen to the replay, please visit http://my.gartner.com/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=202&mode=2&PageID=5553&resId=2569820
Contacts
Susan Moore
Gartner
About Gartner
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is the valuable partner in over 13,000 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 5,500 associates, including 1,400 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 85 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.
