Get Ready for the Hype
Industry buzz usually surrounds the release of a new Gartner Hype Cycle, and the 2022 Hype Cycle for Supply Chain Strategy is no different. The annual findings detail important changes in which strategies, technology, and workflows are making an impact. Along the continuum are these categories:
- Innovation Trigger
- Peak of Inflated Expectations
- Trough of Disillusionment
- Slope of Enlightenment
- Plateau of Productivity
Most notably in this year’s Cycle, supply chain resilience reached the Peak of Inflated Expectations and will arrive at the Plateau of Productivity in five to 10 years. What does that signal? “Today’s levels of disruption in global supply chains and price inflation have transformed existing notions of resilient operations,” explains Noha Tohamy, distinguished VP analyst with the Gartner Supply Chain practice. “Challenges such as those from active conflict, severe weather, cybercrime, trade policy uncertainty and other risks make improving supply chains’ resilience a key priority. At the same time, the pressure to manage traditional key performance indicators, such as cost, still remains.”
Gartner included three new additions in the 2022 Hype Cycle:
1. Machine customers: nonhuman economic actors that obtain goods or services in exchange for payment. Examples: IoT-connected devices that place orders independently, intelligent replenishment algorithms that maintain availability of consumables, and intelligent assistants that suggest deals to consumers.
2. A supply chain ecosystem partnership: a large community of independent organizations that shares and combines capabilities and develops equitable relationships to generate and exchange value to all participants.
3. Hybrid work: where at least some activities can be done in any location, typically via a laptop or mobile device.