Supply chain visibility – is it really the answer?

LONDON - May 21, 2013 - PRLog -- For some years now, ‘supply chain visibility’ has been held up as the solution to every problem a supply chain director faces. Constantly monitor where your goods are and you will minimize inventory, reduce time to market and – most importantly – cut costs, we are told.

“But does that really happen?” asks Anna Warren, Supply Chain Solutions Manager, Virtualized Logistics, a supply chain consultancy set up by logistics company SBS Worldwide.

“Is all that data used to its maximum extent or does it just accumulate in an unused pile once a couple of bottlenecks have been identified and eliminated?”

Ms Warren says the danger is twofold. “Sometimes, different parts of the supply chain are so overwhelmed with data that it becomes unproductive for both transport suppliers and shippers to do anything more than a general analysis.

“Or, conversely, the wrong type of data is collected, missing precisely the ‘right’ data, maybe further back up the supply chain that would be most useful for generating potential efficiencies.”

Another potential problem is the constantly changing nature of the market for exporters, importers and other shippers.

“Companies must recognize that identifying the relevant data and market intelligence is a never-ending process. With all elements and costs in the supply chain, both internal and external, subject to change, constant vigilance is needed.”

Fuel prices and freight lane capacity (and therefore logistics costs) fluctuate, the cost of labor and materials almost inevitably rise, competitors launch new products or identify new markets, and supply chain variables change.

Ms Warren stresses that the criteria and parameters that were agreed when the ‘visibility’ was set up may no longer produce the data which will actually help drive efficiencies through the supply chain.

To read more, access the white paper Supply Chain Visibility – the beginning rather than the end? at http://www.virtualizedlogistics.com/en-gb/knowledge-center/white-papers/