Deloitte: Supply chain execs out of touch with customers

New survey data reveals supply chain executives incorrectly estimate the level of consumer trust in their operations.

According to a new survey report from Deloitte titled, “Is your supply chain trustworthy,” 89% of surveyed global supply chain executives who self-identified as leading suppliers said customers trust their supply chain operations, compared to just 68% of surveyed global customers.

The gaps between supply chain executive and consumer perceptions of supply chain trust were highest in the areas of reliability (25% gap; leading suppliers = 90%, customers = 65%), humanity (e.g., treating workers, customers and other partners fairly and with respect; 24% gap, leading suppliers = 91%, customers = 67%), transparency (22% gap; leading suppliers = 85%, customers = 63%), and capability (e.g., ability to maintain operational consistency; 16% gap, leading suppliers = 91%, customers = 75%).

Other supply chain executive findings

Nearly half (44%) of all executive respondents expect to experience a supply chain shock in the next 24 months as a result of various external challenges including price volatility (46%), inflation (44%), resource shortages (e.g., labor and materials; 42% and 41% respectively), and geopolitical instability (32%).

Executive respondents who self-assessed their organizations as "leading suppliers" were 3.9 times more likely to have a fully deployed digital thread (27% vs. 7% for non-leading suppliers) and 3.8 times more likely to use predictive analytics to forecast demand (38% vs. 10% for non-leading suppliers).

These executive respondents were also 2.5 times more likely to have achieved 15% or higher annual growth rate in the last 12 months (38% vs. 15% for non-leading suppliers) and 1.6 times more likely to say their organizations are resilient against external shocks or crises (34% vs. 12% for non-leading suppliers).

[Read more: How common are supply chain disruptions?]

"The supply chain trust gap is far bigger than our responding executives seem to realize, suggesting there are blind spots in key areas their customers care about," said James Cascone, a Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory partner and sustainability, climate and equity leader with a focus on supply chains, Deloitte & Touche LLP. "From the customer perspective, many COVID-19 pandemic-era supply chain challenges remain unresolved, despite improvements executives have worked hard to achieve. Unfortunately, such wide gaps in trust indicators like reliability and transparency against pre-pandemic expectations stand to worsen as new supply chain risks emerge."

Deloitte Global's "Is your supply chain trustworthy?" survey report was fielded in January and February 2023 and surveyed more than 1,000 executives from large global organizations operating complex supply chains in North America (44%), Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA (31%) and Asia-Pacific (APAC) (25%). This survey analysis was supplemented with findings from Deloitte Consulting LLP's "2023 US Supply Chain Stakeholder Trust" survey of approximately 500 supply chain customers.