While more than half of respondents to a recent survey have in excess of 500 component suppliers or manufacturing partners, 44% have deficient visibility into tier one suppliers. This is according to a recent survey by E2open and Gatepoint Research.

Additionally 75% of the companies have deficient visibility into tier two and three suppliers.

More than 80% of respondents have not automated or only partially automated their supply chain processes.

"Executing on revenue opportunities accurately is extremely important during this time of economic uncertainty," said Mark Woodward, president and CEO of E2open.  "Global corporations stand to lose potential sales due to the lack of end-to-end visibility, including into true customer demand. The survey shows that clear, multi-tier visibility and effective inventory management are keys to succeeding in any economic climate."

The survey findings also revealed the following:

• 86% of respondents regard the supply chain as a critical competitive differentiator
• The top three operational risk areas respondents plan to address include the ability to: leverage supply chain data for decision making; make real-time decisions; and process demand across the end-to-end demand-supply network.
• The top two strategic initiatives of responders involve optimizing inventories and synchronizing supply management with customer demand.

To view the report in .pdf format visit http://www.e2open.com/campaigns/2009_12_17_Gatepoint%20Survey%20of%20Critical%20Supply%20Chain%20Trends.pdf