CHICAGO — McKinsey & Company announced it has acquired SCM Connections, a leader in advanced technology-enabled supply chain planning and analytics.
With the acquisition of this Chicago-based consultancy that specializes in deploying sophisticated Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) software, McKinsey will be able to bring together a powerful and unique combination of best-in-class strategic, technical and functional expertise with the latest technology-enabled supply chain planning capabilities to provide clients with high impact end-to-end supply chain transformations.
In addition, McKinsey will supplement this offering with its McKinsey Digital capabilities to solve unique supply chain problems with the help of advanced analytics and artificial intelligence-driven techniques to help clients rapidly expand their supply chain capabilities.
The need for effective supply chain management and planning has never been greater. Ongoing factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions, labor shortages, and broad economic uncertainty, have created an urgency to upgrade supply chain planning capabilities. Now, more than ever, it is necessary to invest in these systems to ensure both top line revenue realization as well as efficiency and agile supply chain planning support in real time. Through this acquisition, McKinsey will be able to address these challenges head-on, seamlessly connecting the boardroom to the planners, prioritizing technologies to the right use cases, and building the muscle to sustain long-term transformation as supply chains become more agile and customer focused.
The combination of McKinsey's strategic insights and SCM Connections' execution excellence – all backed by tech-enabled implementations – will maximize return on investment for organizations undertaking digital planning transformations.
"Global supply chain issues are increasingly complex and volatile supply chains are forcing companies to modernize the tools they use for forecasting demand and planning supply and inventory to meet it," said Daniel Swan, senior partner and global co-convenor of McKinsey & Company's operations practice. "Today, we are in a new age of supply chain management where advanced planning capabilities are king and digital innovation builds the bridge to resilience. With this acquisition, we will be able to help our clients embed a full, end-to-end technology-enabled supply chain planning approach to fuel long-term growth and build resilience."
A well-established and distinctive player in the supply chain management space, SCM Connections has a strong reputation for delivering exemplary results. They are a renowned firm known for providing clients with innovative process design, end-to-end implementation, and sustainable change in deploying APS software. By combining McKinsey's deep functional and industry-specific expertise to build high-performing supply chains, with SCM Connections' long-standing track record of delivering successful APS implementations that work in the real world, we are creating a unique and disruptive capability where our teams will be true end-to-end impact partners alongside our clients.
"We are thrilled to join McKinsey and expand our footprint to serve more clients at greater scale — across the full manufacturing and supply chain cycle," said Mike Raftery, CEO of SCM Connections. "McKinsey has proven to be distinctive in developing scalable and sustainable transformation strategies, leveraging unmatched insight and expertise in building supply chain and operational excellence. Working together, we will be able to amplify our strengths, driving greater impact for clients at scale and delivering end-to-end transformations that create lasting value."
