New Ivanti Wavelink Report

85 percent of supply chain professionals plan to invest in productivity improvements in the next year

One of the key findings from the survey is that technology is playing an increasingly important role in productivity as labor market challenges continue. The survey shows that getting and keeping the right people in the right positions is difficult - and critical - and respondents are looking for intuitive technologies to help workers do their jobs as efficiently and effectively as possible. Respondents' biggest challenges are labor shortages, inflation, employee efficiency and supplier issues. Respondents' concerns about labor shortages and empowering workers to be productive were consistent and significant throughout the study.

The time required to train employees (52 percent) and high turnover (50 percent) were the most frequently cited challenges for employees. In addition, 41 percent cited the need for digital upskilling. Some 85 percent of respondents plan to invest in new technology and/or expand existing technology in the next year, with more than half (53 percent) saying they plan to increase automation by up to 30 percent. Technology that is easy to implement and extremely reliable could accelerate adoption.

The survey shows that reliability, or uptime, is the most important criterion in evaluating new technologies (69 percent), but other aspects follow close behind: ease of deployment (67 percent), ease of learning (63 percent), and adaptability - that is, a system that can respond quickly to necessary changes (63 percent).