La cadena de suministro siempre ha sido la columna vertebral de la producción, la distribución y la venta minorista. Las recientes crisis, desde pandemias globales hasta la balanza comercial, el cambio climático y la digitalización, han puesto de manifiesto la necesidad de sistemas de gestión de la cadena de suministro (SCM) adaptables, transparentes, robustos e inteligentes. Las soluciones SCM de software como servicio (SaaS) satisfacen la mayoría de estas necesidades: implementación en la nube, actualizaciones periódicas, escalabilidad, precios de suscripción e integración rápida con tecnologías emergentes (como IA, IoT y analítica).
Se espera que el tamaño del mercado de SCM basado en SaaS alcance los 23.080 millones de dólares estadounidenses en 2031, en comparación con los 9.450 millones de dólares estadounidenses en 2023. Se espera que el mercado tenga una CAGR del 11,8 % en el período 2023-2031.
Estrategias de crecimiento
Verticalización: Creación de soluciones de gestión de la cadena de suministro (SCM) específicas para cada sector. Por ejemplo, aplicaciones específicas para alimentación y bebidas, salud, fabricación discreta, moda y distribución. Esto facilita la comprensión de los detalles regulatorios, de cumplimiento y operativos. Infor, por ejemplo, está expandiendo verticalmente sus CloudSuites en los sectores de salud, moda, alimentación y bebidas, etc.
Integration of AI / Machine Learning / Generative AI: Augmenting forecasting, anomaly detection, recommendation engines, demand sensing. These decrease guesswork, increase responsiveness, cut waste. Infor's AI-based warehouse management applications and demand forecasting are good examples. SAP has launched Joule (AI capabilities) and is driving agentic AI for supply chain planners operations.
Cloud Migration Multi Tenant Architectures: Transitioning from on premise or hybrid configurations to pure cloud or multi tenant clouds to enhance scalability, lower maintenance, allow for regular updates. Large volumes of customers are migrating to Infor's CloudSuite, according to Infor.
Partnerships Ecosystem Integration: Creating connectors, collaboration portals, plugging into supplier partner networks, integrating EDI / API / IoT sources, providing visibility across the ecosystem. Cleo's ecosystem integration platform is a good exemplar.
Theme of Resilience, ESG, and Sustainability: Businesses need solutions that assist them in tracing materials, supply risk management, carbon footprint monitoring, compliance assurance. SCM solutions are thus embedding features such as scenario planning (environmental considerations included), supplier transparency, traceability of subcontractors etc. Recent developments of Infor include scenario management, visibility, and traceability.
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Key Market Segments
By Deployment Model
Cloud
On-premises
By Solutions
Manufacturing
Planning
Sourcing
Procurement
Supply Chain Planning
Warehouse Management
Transport Management
By Industry Vertical
Transport
Logistics Service
Manufacturing
Retail
Public Sector
Distribution Network
By End-User
Small
Medium Enterprises
Large Enterprises
Future Trends Opportunities
Autonomous Supply Chains: SCM systems are becoming proactive instead of reactive with agentic AI, predictive models, and reinforcement learning. SAP's recent moves on announcing AI agents that monitor and recommend or execute actions are indicative of this trend.
Greater Focus on Real Time Near Real Time Data: Demand sensing, supply disruption notifications, tracking of logistics, live dashboards. Latency reduction is emerging as a critical requirement.
Supply Chain as Network vs Linear Chain: More companies will change mindset to networked ecosystems (suppliers, subcontractors, carriers, retailers) instead of isolated chains. Visibility, collaborative planning, mutual performance, and reconfiguration on the fly will be critical.
Sustainability, ESG, and Risk Management: Regulator, government, consumer pressure will make capabilities such as carbon tracking, ethical sourcing, disruption resilience mandatory.
Low Code / No Code Platforms for Customization: In order to reduce the barrier, enable businesses to embrace SCM into their particular workflows quicker without extensive development. Cleo's pre-configured accelerators and configurable connections are just a few examples.
Extended Reality, IoT, Digital Twins: Used for warehouse planning, logistics path simulation, tracking of assets etc. Some of them are still nascent but they are becoming more relevant.
Pricing Business Model Innovation: Usage based pricing (e.g. transactions frequency, amount of data), outcome based pricing, modular SCM suites where the customers select only required capabilities.
Key Players with Recent Developments
Infor
Launched Demand Forecasting app with almost real time accuracy of data, integrated into CloudSuite for Fashion, Food Beverage, etc.
AI powered improvements in its Warehouse Management System (WMS): i.e. location anomaly detection, product location suggestion, GenAI shift startup scripts etc.
Incorporated advanced planning (Planner Plus) into its LN CloudSuite ERP for discrete manufacturers to manage finite planning, capacity issues etc.
Improved supplier cooperation through Enterprise Collaboration Portal.
Cloud migration momentum: numerous customers migrating to Infor CloudSuite; increase in ACV bookings etc.
Cleo
Unveiled Retailer Relationship Manager, as part of its "Ecosystem Relationship Management" offerings, providing suppliers with proactive alerts insights to handle retailer supplier obligations (on time, invoicing etc.).
Unveiled Shipper Relationship Manager for carriers/3PLs to monitor performance against expectations, mitigate risks such as tardy freight orders etc.
Enriched its platform (CIC) with accelerators: pre-configured connectors/integrations for ERP systems and marketplaces (Shopify, Amazon, etc.) to drive down time to value.
Improvements in logistic transportation focused execution strengths within CIC (for both tactical and strategic supply chain initiatives).
SAP
During its SAP Sapphire conference (2025), revealed AI enabled innovations within a network centric supply chain framework. Focused on "suite first, network centric" architecture.
Released Joule and agentic AI to enable supply chain planners to better understand data and automate actions (maintenance planning, shop floor management, field service dispatching) more independently.
Epicor Software Corporation
Most recent release of Epicor Kinetic ERP has strengthened cloud possibilities for big manufacturers, improved support for intricate BOMs and international multi plant business.
New functionality to enhance vision, productivity, low/no code customizations through Epicor Application Studio; additional training and usability improvements.
Its SCM solutions (such as inventory optimization, demand planning, supply planning with what if analyses) are being imbued with AI/ML algorithms, dashboards etc.
Opportunities
Emerging markets SMEs remain under-penetrated; cost-effective SaaS offerings, modular platforms can exploit this opportunity.
Supply chain disruptions will drive more organizations to use cloud SCM for resilience.
Fusion of adjacent technologies (IoT sensors, blockchain, edge computing) can be used to offer richer and more reliable data.
Regulatory consumer pressure for sustainability transparency; SCM platforms that facilitate traceability, ESG reporting will be preferred.
Challenges
Data integration problems: suppliers, subcontractors are not necessarily in possession of modern digital tools; legacy systems still exist.
Security, data privacy, compliance across jurisdictions; taking SCM to cloud exposes risk.
Change management / adoption problems: people, processes, culture have to change.
Cost of migration from legacy or on prem systems can be very high.
Relying on network performance / latency; real time requirements can put infrastructure under strain.
Conclusion
The SaaS based SCM market is moving towards maturity and aggressive innovation. Inflated by AI, cloud uptake, need for resilience, sustainability, and real-time visibility, the market is accelerating at a rapid pace. Major vendors are advancing industry specific solutions, infusing intelligent automation, and constructing networked partner ecosystems. For companies, the SCM solution choice will increasingly depend on flexibility, partner ecosystem data openness than fundamental functionality alone.
For those planning to adopt or transition to SaaS SCM: determine your existing supply chain maturity, articulate your topmost priorities (visibility, cost, speed, resilience), weigh total cost of ownership (migration included), verify that suppliers/partners can connect/integrate, and select a vendor with a solid roadmap in AI, ESG, and cloud.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is SaaS SCM, and how does it differ from conventional SCM tools?
SaaS SCM is supply chain management software provided in a cloud model (subscription-based, regular updates, scalable, Internet accessed). Traditional SCM may be on premises, with manual updating, more upfront cost, and less agile.
Will a SaaS SCM platform work for small or medium businesses (SMBs)?
Yes more so. Numerous vendors offer modular, tiered, or scaled SCM with pay as you grow, light deployment, or pre built connectors. Vendors such as Cleo with accelerators target decreasing complexity for smaller suppliers. However, SMBs will have to build network effects (supplier connectivity, data readiness) themselves.
How significant is AI/ML in contemporary SCM SaaS?
Extremadamente crítico. La IA/ML facilita la previsión de la demanda, la planificación del suministro, la detección de anomalías, la previsión de riesgos, la optimización del inventario y la planificación de escenarios. Los métodos manuales se vuelven menos eficientes o demasiado lentos a medida que aumenta la complejidad de las cadenas de suministro.
¿Cuáles son los riesgos y peligros al realizar la transición a SaaS SCM?
Algunas de las amenazas son la seguridad de los datos, la dependencia del proveedor, la dificultad de integración con sistemas heredados, garantizar que el tiempo de actividad y la latencia estén dentro de los límites, garantizar que las personalizaciones sean factibles, los precios transparentes y la preparación del personal y de los procesos internos para el cambio.
¿Cómo influirán las tendencias de sostenibilidad / ESG en las herramientas de SCM?
Se están convirtiendo en un elemento central. Las soluciones de SCM incorporarán más funcionalidades para rastrear el origen de las materias primas, las emisiones de carbono, garantizar el cumplimiento normativo de los proveedores (ambiental y laboral) y simular situaciones hipotéticas con límites ambientales. Los proveedores que ofrezcan estas capacidades obtendrán una ventaja competitiva.
