Did 6% of Supply Chains Achieve Full Digital Transformation?
The source supports a 6% end-to-end visibility result, not a 6% full-digital-transformation result.
Short answer: No. The defensible 6% figure is from a 2017 GEODIS survey in which 6% of firms said they had achieved full end-to-end supply-chain visibility. It did not measure completed digital transformation.
Last updated: August 2026
What the 6% result actually measured
The 2017 GEODIS Supply Chain Worldwide Survey described “full visibility” as visibility from suppliers of suppliers through to clients of clients. Its summary says that only 6% of firms had reached that target. The report does not call the result full digital transformation.
The distinction changes the meaning of the number. End-to-end visibility is about seeing inventory, orders and handoffs across a network. Digital transformation is a much broader organisational change that can include data, systems, process design, decision rights, skills and operating models. A company can digitise parts of its supply chain without having full network visibility, and it can improve visibility without completing a company-wide transformation.
Survey scope and denominator
GEODIS says an independent research institute conducted the survey from October through December 2016. It collected feedback from 623 supply-chain professionals in 17 countries across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. The sample included several industries and company-size bands.
That makes 6% a historical survey result for the participating firms—not a live census of every supply chain, a Shopify-specific measure or a current transformation benchmark. The earlier version of this page attributed the claim to Gartner in 2024 and changed “visibility” into “full digital transformation.” The cited Gartner page did not support that wording, so this page no longer presents it as a verified Gartner statistic.
How to use the benchmark responsibly
Use the result as evidence that complete network visibility was uncommon in this 2016 survey. Do not use it to estimate how many companies are digitally transformed today. A current assessment needs a defined scope and denominator:
- Which nodes are included—suppliers, factories, warehouses, carriers and customers?
- Which events are visible—orders, stock, production, shipment and exceptions?
- How fresh and complete is the data at each node?
- Can teams act on an exception, or only see it after the fact?
Those questions produce an auditable visibility baseline. Calling the same exercise “digital transformation” would overstate what it measures.
Where Forthsuite fits
Forthsuite currently provides custom-made, custom-priced supply-chain operations services scoped around a merchant's workflow. The unified Forthsuite operating system remains the product vision. Forthsuite does not claim that this GEODIS result is a product outcome or that one implementation creates full end-to-end visibility.
Frequently asked questions
Did Gartner find that only 6% of supply chains completed digital transformation?
Not in the source previously cited on this page. The located 6% result is from GEODIS and concerns full end-to-end supply-chain visibility.
When was the GEODIS survey conducted?
An independent institute collected 623 responses across 17 countries from October through December 2016; GEODIS published the report in 2017.
Is 6% a current global benchmark?
No. It is a historical result for the survey sample and question. A current benchmark would need a new study with a clearly stated definition and denominator.