• Determine the market size of the global/digital supply chain and "track and trace"/serialization ecosystems within the life sciences, industrial, and CPG end markets.
• Identify growth drivers of the global/digital supply chain and "track and trace"/serialization ecosystems within the life sciences, industrial, and CPG end markets.
• Identify barriers to growth of the global/digital supply chain and "track and trace"/serialization ecosystems within the life sciences, industrial, and CPG end markets.
• Identify major/primary players in the global/digital supply chain and "track and trace"/serialization ecosystems within the life sciences, industrial, and CPG end markets.
• Identify any potential competitors in global/digital supply chain and "track and trace"/serialization within the life sciences, industrial, and CPG end markets.
• Use key following keywords to guide the search process: SAP, track and trace, supply chain, digital supply chain (DSC), serialization, asset management, digital manufacturing.

Data Availability

Overall Supply Chain Market

• The 2020 Supply Chain Management Services Industry in the U.S. market research report from IBISWorld indicates that the total market size of supply chain management services decreased by 1.5% between 2015-2020. However, this market is expected to bounce back and continue upwards growth by 2025, with private investments driving growth.

Life Sciences Market

• In the life sciences market, EY has noted an increase in collaboration with government organizations to monitor and manage inventory, especially for products relevant to the COVID-19 virus. Certain governments have suggested life sciences companies localize their supply chains to keep up with demand.
• The use of digital supply chains is becoming more common for life sciences firms due to its real-time capabilities. This is especially prevalent with home healthcare delivery.
• Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) is becoming a popular alternative in the life sciences market to lower product costs and increase localization.

Industrial Market

• A survey from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) referenced by Reuters in May 2021 specified that manufacturing plants and factories — particularly those that work in producing steel, plastics and rubber, electrical equipment, and appliance components — are experiencing record-long lead times due to inflation, tariffs, and increased consumer demand.
• McKinsey suggests that industrial companies switch from enterprise-resource planning (ERP) and forecasting systems to "segment, stock, and plan" (SSP) systems to manage supply chains. ERPs in the industrial market are difficult to program, resulting in poor inventory management. SSPs, on the other hand, account for variations in product availability, and can reduce part shortages by 50%-90%, resulting in more on-time deliveries and lower costs.

Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Market

• According to McKinsey's COVID-19 Impact Survey, smaller CPG brands are stealing market share from large corporations. Between 2019-2020, small CPG brands increased their total market share from 18.2% to 19.2%, while private labels remained relatively stable with 17.2% of the market, and large companies saw their shares decrease from 51.2% in 2019 to 50.5% at the end of 2020. This change in market share is attributed to product availability, which was less of an issue with smaller CPG providers.

Summary

• Within our first hour of research, we were able to compile data indicative of the role that supply chains play in the life sciences, industrial, and consumer packaged goods market. We also located qualitative evidence of how the supply chains in each market have been impacted over the past year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Early searches indicate that many reputable consulting firms, including but not limited to McKinsey and EY, are conducting research on the role that supply chains play in the markets of interest (life sciences, industrial, CPG), as well as how these industries are evolving their supply chain operations.
• Based on the data availability, we are confident that the proposals suggested below can offer a more comprehensive analysis of the global/digital supply chains and “track and trace”/serialization ecosystems within the life sciences, industrial, and CPG end markets.