Every company has felt the effects of supply chain disruptions since 2020—perhaps none more than midsize consumer products businesses (those with between 250 and 1,500 employees). Focusing on resilience in the face of geopolitical instability, they plan to grow and expand channels and partners for sourcing strategies, according to a recent SAP Insights study of 12,000 participants across industries.

Cloud ERP offers a clear road map to achieving these goals. The landscape is crowded, and midsize consumer products companies crave expert support from solution providers to find and implement the right tools that help them deliver high-level customer experiences. The cloud is the gateway to the advanced products that help businesses of all sizes compete and thrive—because a true digital factory is out of reach if solutions are still running on premises.

Almost 95% are hungry for growth

Growth is the way to combat increasing demand for efficiency, cost savings, and customization in a highly competitive market. It’s also the best insurance policy for unforeseen events, when supply chain failures create huge amounts of food waste and empty shelves due to panic-buying.

But the path to growth is paved with roadblocks:

• Lack of integration between systems
• Supply chain weaknesses
• Complex processes that slow down work

To overcome these challenges and realize growth that will bring stability, consumer products companies are looking to enhance lifecycle management—managing products from conception to disposal—by leveraging digital tools to accelerate innovation and respond quickly to market changes.

Additionally, smart manufacturing allows for predictive maintenance, which minimizes downtime and maximizes production efficiency and flexibility through real-time data-driven decision-making. That means consumer products companies need to find and integrate better analytics tools for decision-making if they want to optimize the order-to-cash process and realize the growth they’re after.

It comes as no surprise that the research reveals more than 50% of participants are planning technology investment to make this happen.

This data begs the question: What technology are they turning to?

91% consider AI adoption a priority

Enterprise resource planning and traditional manufacturing software alone no longer get the job done in a world of digital factories. But while AI might seem like an obvious answer to current challenges—like optimizing inventory management and streamlining the order-to-cash process—midsize companies are proceeding with caution. According to the survey, while 40% are already using AI to a strong degree, they’re wary of the risk posed by incorrect data or hallucinations.

AI tools are making the most impact in finance, specifically for statutory and regulatory reporting and cost improvement. They also help address all-important supply chain concerns like tracking product availability and inventory accuracy,

But the survey reveals that the best use cases for AI are:

• Demand forecasting
• Inspection and fault detection
• Prediction and remediation of supply chain disruptions
• Predictive maintenance

Business AI tools help CP companies exceed the demands and expectations of consumers by simplifying digital transformation—leading to sustainable and profitable growth.

How GROW with SAP can help midsize CP companies

If almost half the industry is ready to invest in new technology, then software choice will impact who’s a leader vs. a laggard in 2025.

Consumer products companies looking for accelerated growth can turn to the GROW with SAP suite for a cloud-first approach to solving the supply chain challenges highlighted in the survey.

Tackle a cloud-first approach with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, a cloud-native ERP solution supporting the scalability needed to realize smart manufacturing. The suite also offers embedded AI with predictive analytics and process automation.

Most importantly, it doesn’t take an entire department to deploy and run—because SAP understand that while running a midsize business might be difficult, running software shouldn’t be.