The critical role of business apps in supply chain management, global trade and logistics
A new study has revealed that business apps are now considered a “critical, competitive factor in global trade and logistics.”
The Global Trade Management Agenda 2017, a study conducted by AEB in cooperation with University DHBW in Stuttgart, Germany, features responses from 330 experts in the fields of logistics, global trade and supply chain management.
Here’s what we learned from it:
Business Apps in a future business world
Nine out of ten participants in the survey consider business apps as a critical, competitive factor in global trade and logistics. In actual fact, 86.7 percent of respondents agreed that role of business apps in each of these sectors will only continue to grow.
This comes at a time where only 18 percent of respondents are currently using apps to support supply chain management, logistics and customs processes.
Not now, but maybe tomorrow
As a way of putting truth to that 86.7 percent of people who believe apps will be key, 21.1 percent said that despite not currently using them they want to use apps in the future.
With great apps, comes greater flexibility – and more
Specifically looking at the impact of business apps, transparency, flexibility, control are the buzzwords. Four out of five respondents expect business apps to bring much more transparency, flexibility and control with almost half of respondents considering this potential as “very likely”.
Business as usual at the top
One out of two respondents who fall into the category of upper management and executives uses mobile applications and business apps once or even “many times daily”.
Employees, well only one in five employees not in leadership roles use business apps.
Looking back at the top of the pyramid, more respondents from upper management see benefits of optimisation, flexibility, control and competitive advantages as very likely.
Another apparition of fear
With any form of innovation or adoption of technology, in this case business applications, respondents identified the “human-to-app-interface. Around three fourths of respondents expect that apps will enable constant availability, which in turn will very quickly erode the very boundaries between work and personal life.
With those boundaries gone, there’s more room for distraction and with distraction comes inefficiency.
Seamless integration
One in two respondents believe that successfully deploying business apps and opening up the benefits and opportunities that come with business apps is only possible if the applications access existing processes and data.
You can access the full report at AEB.
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