With a slowly-but-surely growing demand for consumer and industrial products under way in the U.S. and around the world since the beginning of 2002, business analysts and supply chain consultants are projecting an economic rebound this year. It may not be the explosive growth of years past, but at least a mild recovery seems now in the offing. An accompanying shift toward reinvestment in technologies that can help generate Improved efficiencies is good news indeed for supply chain solutions providers. A recent Gartner Group report, "SCM [Supply Chain Management] Software Forecast, 2001-2003," for example, predicts that market growth will increase from 4.2 percent to 6 percent in 2002, and to 12 percent in 2003. Spending is more careful than ever in these times, however, noted Gartner; manufacturers are demanding rapid implementations with greater vertical industry functionality. Midmarket manufacturers and the software vendors serving them, interviewed for this article, agree that a mild optimism is indeed in the air, but demonstrated value is the order of the day.
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