Driving Supply Chain Cost Optimization

Manage and control your supply chain costs

Use Total Cost of Ownership to Optimize Costs and Increase Savings

Reducing cost is often a priority for companies operating with thin margins or where material costs are a significant portion of their price structure. The concept of total cost of ownership (TCO) is an essential input to effective cost-to-serve analysis, which helps quantify the cost/service trade-offs associated with varying levels of complexity in how your supply chain supports customers and products in your portfolio. 

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    We’ve engaged with Gartner for the last two to two and a half years. It helped us drive tremendous change in the organization in terms of how we structured our team, helped us drive cost out, helped us mature the organization in terms of supply chain maturity and we consistency year-over-year have been reducing our costs.
    Manufacturing

    Balancing supply chain costs and growth objectives

    Supply chain is in the bullseye for developing growth strategies, improving customer experience and supporting ever-increasing demands on customer delivery requirements. A powerful piece of the digital world, Supply Chain is even being weaponized by governments with global trade wars and tariffs. In this climate of constant change,  successful supply chain leaders maintain costs through growing networks of partner and suppliers.

    About 80% of employees expect cost optimization in their organizations in the next 12 months
    Leaders seek to use cost optimization to set up long-term success. Winners accelerate in these turns.

    Supply chains can prepare for constant change

    To succeed and grow, effective organizations monitor and evolve their strategies based on economic, societal, environmental, geopolitical and technological inputs. They align people and skills to adapt as strategies advance to optimizing all resources in support of business goals at acceptable cost. 

    Leaders seek to use cost optimization to set up long-term success. Winners accelerate in these turns.

    Insights you can use

    Gartner’s future of work insights, advice, data, and tools help supply chains move beyond the hype of predictions to prepare organizations for the readiness to succeed and evolve during a time of constant change.

    2 Outcomes CSCOs Focus on When Cost Is Under Pressure

    Supply chain leaders often report that their organizations continue to take a narrow, short-term approach to cost optimization. Gartner helps identify the two outcomes on which supply chain leaders can focus their efforts to position their teams for long-term success.

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    Cost and Inventory Optimization Require More Than Financial Targets

    Meeting cost and inventory goals can create both operating ambiguity and management dysfunction for many organizations. Gartner illustrates an emerging vision for cost optimization that aligns operating outcomes with strategic focus.

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    Use Scenario Planning to Build Supply Chain Resilience

    In this complimentary webinar, we will look at how shifting labor costs, changes in geopolitics and trade policies, and the need to be closer to customers are making companies question supply chains that have been designed specifically for cost efficiency.

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    A Supply Chain Action Guide to Staying Agile in the Turns

    During turns, companies often stop discretionary spending, lay off staff, reduce training and cut capital investments. Winners, however, think long term and forecast for the upturn. Winning enterprises have an ongoing cost management discipline and practice cost optimization, as opposed to cost cutting.

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    Gartner’s Cost Optimization Playbook for Strategy and Planning

    Supply chain leaders can use this research to enable delivery of efficient target customer outcomes by making design and operating trade-offs regarding supply network, organization structure, and process capability investments.

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    Driving Cost Optimization Across the Enterprise

    Unfocused and reactive cost reduction tactics create organizational conflict and put value at risk. Gartner can arm supply chain leaders with the research to embed cost optimization principles into their strategies to deliver sustainable impact to business financial performance.

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    Gartner's Cost Optimization Playbook for Sourcing and Procurement Leaders

    This research provides a framework and top ideas to optimize costs through both short-term tactical improvements and longer-term transformational changes.

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    Gartner Supply Chain Webinars

    Maximize productivity, minimize risk and enable innovation with insights and strategies delivered straight from our experts.

    Resulted in savings of $1 million in expenses and 15x in membership cost.
    Client Success Story

    Implementing Network Design Inhouse to Reduce Costs

    To respond to increasing network costs and expensive corrective actions, a leading medical device manufacturer needed to create an effective network design strategy. Gartner helped the client to carry out their network design strategy in-house versus investing in software helping to save $1 million in expense and up to 15X in membership cost. 

    Gartner topic experts

    Gartner’s supply chain experts include more than 100 people worldwide. Meet a few of our leaders. 

    Paul Lord
    Senior Director Analyst
    Research & Advisory

    Ken Chadwick
    VP Analyst
    Research & Advisory

    Stan Aronow
    VP Distinguished Advisor
    Research & Advisory

    Mike Burkett
    Distinguished VP Analyst
    Research & Advisory

    Greg Aimi
    VP, Team Manager
    Research & Advisory

    Miguel Cossio
    Senior Principal Analyst
    Research & Advisory

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    Gartner experts are trusted advisors for 2,500+ supply chain leaders and executives

    Gartner helps organizations grow and maintain ownership of strategic initiatives. Make the right decision with trusted insights and objective advice.