.

Surviving as a 21st-century supply chain requires operating as a demand-driven value network, according to Gartner Inc., a leading IT research and advisory company. Orchestrating these value networks means supply-chain executives must understand and adopt best practices in selecting, onboarding, and managing supply-chain outsourcing partners. Therefore, Gartner has identified eight best practices in supply-chain outsourcing.

“Supply-chain executives are starting to apply more comprehensive analysis to outsourcing decisions, such as factoring in agility, responsiveness, and cost,” says Michael Dominy, research director at Gartner. “Companies must focus on what they can do best and appropriately outsource activities that value-chain partners can do better. This often means using one or more logistics, manufacturing, or business process outsourcing (BPO) partners, instead of performing these supply-chain activities themselves.

 …