Lenovo has ranked #1 in the Gartner Asia/Pacific Supply Chain Top 10 for 2023. This marks the second consecutive year that Lenovo has received this recognition. Lenovo’s operational excellence continues to transform its global supply chain and manufacturing footprint.
Despite global economic headwinds and geopolitical challenges, Lenovo’s global footprint demonstrated progress in advancing digital ambitions, pioneering ecosystem development, and incorporating environmental sustainability in its supply chain.
Strengthening supply chain resiliency amid global disruptions
To improve end-to-end supply chain resiliency and mitigate the effects of global market disruptions over the past 12 months, Lenovo established a supply chain control tower called the ‘Supply Chain Intelligence (SCI)’ to synergize all functions – planning, sourcing, manufacturing, delivery, and quality control, in one integrated platform. Powered by AI and machine learning, SCI’s real-time analysis and simulations resulted in a 25% increase in Lenovo’s inventory turns, enhanced forecast accuracy, and reduced order-to-delivery lead time.
In addition, Lenovo’s operations network comprises 30+ manufacturing sites and spans 180 markets, including China, India, and Japan. These broadened manufacturing capabilities allow Lenovo to gain greater control over its supply chain operations, which is crucial in ensuring its flexibility and resilience amid market disruptions.
Embracing advanced technologies to improve customer experience
As a supply chain leader, Lenovo leverages digital technologies to improve supply chain transparency and enable more informed decision-making in its supply and product management. In its digital-first supply chain, Lenovo utilizes cutting-edge technologies such as 5G, IoT, and AI to transform ecosystem partnerships and customer interactions. With this, it optimizes the delivery of products and solutions and enriches customer experiences.
Lenovo developed a proprietary AI-enabled process to identify, reduce and replace high-density packaging with environmentally friendly materials in its worldwide distribution. This innovation reduced over 50 tons of carbon emissions annually.
“We are honored to once again secure the No. 1 spot in the Gartner Asia Pacific Supply Chain ranking. This recognition demonstrates our commitment to building a smart, networked, and automated supply chain that better serves our customers,” says Amar Babu, President of Lenovo Asia Pacific. “Amid a challenging global supply chain environment, our investments in advanced technologies such as AI and its adoption have helped our customers and partners to optimize their operational efficiencies and improve business continuity to gain a competitive edge.”
Incorporating sustainability in supply chain practices
Finally, as one of the judging criteria, the Gartner ranking evaluates efforts to promote Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) innovation throughout the supply chain.
Lenovo demonstrated world-class corporate stewardship through its sustainability efforts. As part of its goal to reach net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, validated and approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), Lenovo aims to remove one million tons of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from its supply chain.
To support this goal, Lenovo collaborated with logistics leader Kuehne+Nagel to design a sustainable logistics solution. This allowed customers to buy credits through a purchase add-on to reduce the carbon footprint associated with the shipping of IT equipment and devices. Customers can use these credits to fund the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), a fuel produced from sustainable feedstocks that helps to reduce GHG emissions.
Lenovo’s Asia Pacific first place ranking follows shortly after its #8 ranking on Gartner Top 25 Global Supply Chain for 2023, a rank up from its position in 2022. Lenovo also ranked #3 in Gartner 2023 Supply Chain Top 25: High Tech Category.
