Outsourcing comes of age, especially for supply chain activities

June 5, 2007

“Outsourcing is growing fast and delivering results. More people than ever are outsourcing with no indication
that growth will slow. Our findings confirm that outsourcing has matured beyond cost reduction to become a way for organisations to better access talent and capabilities, gain more flexibility, reinvent their business model and drive innovation.” says a new report by PrcewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a consultancy.

Supply chain activities such as production, logistics and distributions are the most outsourced business activities together with IT services. 53% of respondents to PwC survey outsource production or delivery of core products or services. This percentage will grow steadily in the next five year as the majority of the company surveyed intend to expand their current outsourcing over the next five years.

The report goes on in listing the main benefits that outsourcing delivers, the challenges to success and what customers and service providers think works best for them in real life outsourcing. It also provides evidence
that leading outsourcing customers and service providers are shifting from traditional to multisourcing, joint ventures, and open business models concluding that “As buyers increasingly seek to outsource core products and services, and suppliers rise to the challenge to deliver the skills and capabilities required, a new model of outsourcing is required: collaboration. Having an experienced, independent partner to help orchestrate new partnerships can give you the confidence to succeed.”

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