Survey: Users Dissatisfied With Bulk Supply Chain

Compiled ByDeborah Austin Eighty percent of bulk-material supply-chain participants are dissatisfied with the present state of logistics services, shows a recent survey by Mercer Management Consulting and Optimum Logistics in cooperation with the Journal of Commerce. Seventy-five percent say they use the Web in their supply chain to solve logistics challenges -- but 70% are not using it in ways that significantly alter the system economics of that supply chain. Only 15% are using it for value-added financial services such as financing, letters of credit, ship brokering, and insurance. Key sources of dissatisfaction: poor communications, documentation problems, paper intensity, and low customer-service quality. Lexington, Mass.-based Mercer is a global management consulting firm; Stamford, Conn.-based Optimum Logistics offers Internet-based open logistics systems for commodity goods.