ORLANDO, Fla., May 10, 2023

Gartner Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo Americas: Day 3 Summary

We are bringing you news and highlights from the Gartner Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo, taking place in Orlando this week. Below is a collection of the key announcements and insights coming out of the conference.

On Day 3 from the conference, we are highlighting sessions on how DEI can positively impact your overall people strategy, collaborating with suppliers on business continuity plans and best practices for developing a Scope 3 emissions strategy . Be sure to check this page throughout the week for updates.

Key Announcements

How DEI is the Secret Sauce in Your Supply Chain People Strategy

Presented by Dana Stiffler, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) objectives are increasingly supportive of a broad and effective overall people management strategy. In this session, Dana Stiffler, Distinguished VP Analyst with Gartner, shared the three main ingredients that make DEI the secret sauce of a good supply chain people management strategy.

Key Takeaways

“To achieve DEI objectives and build a solid people strategy, focus on three complementary elements: hybrid work, ensuring accountability, and emphasizing communication.”
“Hybrid work arrangements are an opportunity to advance DEI objectives: borderless hiring practices can improve diversity, equitable work arrangements improve visibility and reduce biases, while focusing extra engagement efforts on remote workers helps ensure an inclusive environment.”
“Human-centric hybrid work design improves both DEI and overall employee well-being; 94% of all employees want more flexible work arrangements.”
“Supply Chain has a DEI “do/say gap” characterized by lofty ambitions that are not always matched with concrete plans; only 27% of supply chain organizations have formal goals on management scorecards.”

It’s More Than a Plan: Key Elements to Cover With Suppliers on Business Continuity

Presented by Heather Wheatley, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner

With the amount and severity of disruptions that can impact supply chain operations growing, now is the time to closely review suppliers’ business continuity management and work with them to enhance their capabilities in this area. In this session, Heather Wheatley, Senior Director Analyst with Gartner, shared the roadmap to ensure that not only are business continuity plans in place, but that they can be proven effective.

Key Takeaways

“Half of businesses are confident in their business continuity plans, yet 77% reported recovery issues during their last declared disaster.”
“Business continuity is more than a plan, it’s a continuous process involving senior management buy-in, risk and impact assessment dependencies, response development, training and validation exercises.”
“Start by ensuring suppliers have a solid foundation: is a defined governance plan in place? What happened during the last disruption and have those lessons been applied to the current plan?”
“A well-conducted business impact analysis (BIA) measures the impact of disruptions to service delivery, determines critical activities and their recovery times. This analysis enables structured planning and eliminates disjointed efforts.”
“Types of exercises to validate your plan: walk-through, facilitated discussion, single team simulation, multiteam simulation and full-scale exercises.”

How to Navigate the Scope 3 Emissions Maze

Presented by Jose Reyes, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner

Scope 3 emissions, or the indirect emissions that occur in the value chain both up and downstream, continue to challenge organizations. In this session, Jose Reyes, Senior Director Analyst with Gartner, provided some direction in navigating the Scope 3 emissions maze.

Key Takeaways

“Addressing Scope 3 emissions is a critical part of any organization’s sustainability work; as Scope 3 can account for more than 70% of a business’ carbon footprint.”
“Benefits of addressing Scope 3 include: reduced costs, improved products, enhanced value chain and better engaged employees.”
“There are 15 different Scope 3 categories; Supply chain leaders can’t address them all at once. They must select the most relevant ones to their function and get started.”
“It is vital to receive feedback from both internal and external stakeholders on what it will take to reach Scope 3 reduction goals, and how this will impact them.”
“Ultimately, a successful plan must balance impact with cost, and the plan should be recalibrated regularly with new goals and milestones.”

It’s not too late to join the conference!

That's a wrap for Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo Americas! See you next year.

View coverage from Day 1

View coverage from Day 2

About Gartner

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) delivers actionable, objective insight that drives smarter decisions and stronger performance on an organization’s mission-critical priorities. To learn more, visit gartner.com.