Supply chain visibility is about knowing where things are at all times, from their sources to their final destinations. Various technologies can track goods in real time. Blockchain, AI, data analytics, logistics process automation and customer software portals are notable innovations enabling key stakeholders to gain a 360-degree view of supply chain elements throughout the cargo journey.
Visibility barriers exist. Common challenges include control tower incompatibility with siloed systems, poor synchronization, limited data granularity, rigid architecture and backward-looking predictions. Using the correct set of technologies, you can break down visibility barriers to eliminate blindsides, achieve end-to-end visibility and enjoy the following advantages.
1. Managing Inventory Properly
Knowing the exact number of items in transit coming from suppliers, in transit to customers, and in storage ready for shipping matters when estimating whether you can satisfy ever-changing market demand.
Predicting buying behaviors is one thing. Having enough supply to fulfill orders is another. Maintaining adequate inventory levels is a must. It can also be a pain when you work with international supply chain partners operating in various time zones, having distinct work cultures and facing unique geopolitical realities.
End-to-end supply chain visibility allows you to see all vital inventory figures accurately and analyze them accordingly. Integrating systems used in your supply chain network enables you to keep tabs on the inflows and outflows of merchandise across the globe. Such omnipresence keeps you from overstocking based on guesswork, driving down your carrying costs, and preventing losses due to expired or obsolete products.
2. Addressing Inefficiencies
Complete visibility gives you a newfound understanding of your supply chain execution and awareness of its flaws. Mapping out individual procedures enables you to see the relationship between steps. This way, you can discover redundant processes and bottlenecks you suspect to exist but can’t pinpoint due to obscurity.
You can only streamline the inefficiencies in your supply chain execution when you precisely know what they are and why they occur. After locating and verifying them, you can devise alternative processes to achieve the same objectives with fewer steps.
Big data comes into play. Your control tower must be flexible and agile enough to accept input through various methods to collect mountains of digital information from all supply chain activities.
In construction, leaders use data analytics to glean actionable insights from data and look for opportunities for optimization. Construction managers use their findings to eliminate process inefficiencies sooner rather than later.
3. Increasing Collaboration and Coordination
Reducing supply chain visibility gaps can translate to more transparency and seamless communication. It sheds light on which activities of specific vendors negatively affect your bottom line. This knowledge empowers you to speak with relevant parties, bring up your data-backed concerns and find a mutually beneficial way to move forward.
Supply chain collaboration takes constant exchanges of information, requiring trust and willingness. Some vendors are less keen on divulging data than others for whatever reason. They may resist change, decline to embrace modern technologies or refuse to comply with new standards. Regardless of the motivation, these businesses shouldn’t be in your network.
Instead, do business with supply chain partners eager to collaborate and coordinate how you like them to. Eliminating visibility gaps and making informed decisions are possible only when 100% of your suppliers agree to share data and synchronize their activities with you. Your partners must proactively update you when something goes wrong to help you adapt to abrupt or long-term changes accordingly.
4. Mitigating Disruptions
Visibility contributes to supply chain resilience. During the pandemic, large-scale disruptions caught many businesses from different industries unprepared. Empty shelves, late deliveries and uncertain shipment delays were the norm when governments imposed COVID-19 lockdowns.
Disruptions are inevitable due to unforeseen events. The supply chain risks are more manageable with few to no visibility gaps.
A disrupted supply chain is terrible news to any sector but notably worse for high-risk industries. For example, a delayed shipment of replacement mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) components due to a factory fire may increase the accident risk of arborists and commercial landscapers at work.
Urgent jobs may force tree workers to use malfunctioning aerial lifts, jeopardizing their safety and health. About one in five deaths in the tree industry is MEWP-related. Contractors must have improved supply chain visibility to find alternative reliable faulty part sources and ensure proper equipment maintenance during a supply disruption.
5. Ensuring Customer Satisfaction
Supply chain visibility guarantees correct order fulfillment, improves shipment trackability and mitigates delays. In contrast, selling out-of-stock products, leaving customers in the dark regarding the item’s estimated time of delivery and making shoppers wait are unacceptable business practices arising from visibility gaps.
Failing to keep your end of the bargain because you’re working with bad data can frustrate customers. If you develop a reputation for being a repeat offender, trust in your brand may erode in the long term. You may lose a considerable portion of your revenue to chargebacks in the short term. These cases are disputable. Still, winning them can be challenging — mainly if you belong to the travel and hospital sector, where chargebacks eat more than 1% of the revenues of 70% of merchants.
Supply chain visibility is instrumental in improving your operations to satisfy your customers, even if you inadvertently inconvenience them. Anticipating what and when will go wrong can help you act urgently in the present and take steps to prevent the same error from happening again.
Eliminate Supply Chain Visibility Gaps
Invest in the latest technologies to capture as much supply chain data as possible. The more numbers you can crunch, the more effectively you can identify and address your blind sides to make your network cost-effective and resilient.
About the author
Rose Morrison is the managing editor of Renovated.com, and has over 5 years of writing experience in the industry. Her work has been featured on The National Association of Realtors, the American Society of Home Inspectors, and other reputable publications. For more from Rose, you can follow her on X.
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