Why is Supply Chain Visibility So Important? (2024)
Supply chain visibility is the ability to track different goods and/or products in transit, giving a clear view of the inventory and activity. It enables shippers to improve customer service and cost controls through management of inventory in motion, proactive status updates, limiting disruptions and risk mitigation. As a result, the supply chain will become stronger and more agile in the process of having good visibility.
The goal of supply chain visibility is to gain advanced insights on how your supply chain works, while reducing risk. Pair those insights with collections of user data, and you are left with a supply chain that can be optimized to be as efficient as possible.
With a third-party logistics provider like C.H. Robinson, shippers like you can improve customer service, reduce costs, and build a stronger supply chain. In this post, we’ll dive into the details of how exactly this is achieved.
Key challenges of supply chain visibility First, let’s look at some of the common challenges that we see as supply chain consultants. Ultimately, improving your supply chain visibility should diminish these.
Sharing information and data.Having a system in place requires sharing info and data between the tiers of your supply chain. If that can’t be done, problem’s surface, so ensure that your system provides real-time global visibility across all modes and regions in a single platform. Navisphere Vision provides the real-time visualization necessary to keep all components of your supply chain informed and functioning optimally.
Interruptions in the supply chain.Enterprises can lose control over the inbound supply network because of the lack of visibility. Keeping all aspects of your supply chain in mind is a challenge in itself, especially those that might be tough to control. The lack of forward-looking demand visibility causes increased inventory levels at different points in the supply chain. Navisphere Vision alerts users to potential disruptions such as weather, traffic, and current events. It also provides the analytics that help shippers make better, quicker decisions to negate disruptive effects.
Having the ability to comb through data.Without having a good sense of what data will be helpful and what data can be ignored, visibility won’t have the best possible effect on your supply chain. Being aware of the various tiers in your supply chain, and disseminating the relevant information can go a long way. Navisphere Vision enables shippers to make smarter business decisions with relevant data on a real-time level. Overall, this helps predict any challenges that might occur, react in a less randomized fashion, create unity throughout the supply chain, and increase collaboration to deliver products on time.
Key benefits of supply chain visibility The benefits of improved supply chain visibility all lead to improved workflow, and increased profits. In addition, better visibility allows businesses to cut costs for customers and reduce risk. Let’s look at a few other key benefits of supply chain visibility.
Mitigate disruptions:If you know where potential disruptions might surface ahead of time, the chances of them causing problems are reduced. Operating a supply chain that is rooted in strong data analysis and communication will limit the potential for roadblocks and lead to exceptional results.
Enable agility:One of the main goals and benefits of gaining visibility is to give you the ability to be agile. Visibility allows you to get out in front of everything that comes with managing a supply chain, and making the appropriate changes in order to boost your productivity regardless of the circ*mstances.
Increase speed:When you make data-backed decisions about your supply chain, you don’t need to sit back and wait for anything to point you towards your next move. You can move faster when you know what’s coming. That is an evergreen piece of advice, and it applies directly to supply chain visibility. This goes hand in hand with enabling agility.
Meet customer demands:Supply chains need to be able to change and shift to meet evolving customer needs. Full visibility into supply chain processes, plus the help of a supply chain consultant who has seen countless examples of this in action, helps you determine what you need to do to align your supply chain to meet customer demands.
Data-driven results:Visibility into all aspects of your supply chain allows you to access large amounts of supply chain data. This data, when processed by Navisphere and combined with an experienced consultant’s viewpoints, helps shippers make quick, smart, data-backed decisions that will lead to greater supply chain success.
How to achieve better supply chain visibility Achieving better supply chain visibility can be done through a variety of means. The common theme among them is improved awareness.
From the top of the chain, down to the bottom, employees should be versatile. The more capable sets of eyes and ears you have on your team, the better off you will be. Here are three tips on how to get there.
Employ the best technology: Visibility isn’t about having eyes on everything, all the time. It’s about making sure that everyone involved in the supply chain has the ability to find where everything is, and what to do when things go wrong. With assistance from advanced technology like Navisphere Vision you will see improved visibility of the moving parts that go into operating a supply chain. From there, advanced insights can help with solving any efficiency issues.
Invest in improving the capabilities of all tiers:Employees shouldn’t be forced or expected to specialize in one aspect of the supply chain. There is room for improvement across each level of your supply chain – this should be the focus. Strict specialization has the potential to put theoretical blinders on your employees, which will lead to limited visibility across all tiers of the supply chain. These employees are your eyes and ears, and training them be versatile in their role will pair well with technological advances that are the supply chain industry.
Focus on workflow:Making informed decisions at the highest speed possible, without risking visibility, requires strong workflow. This starts with the team. Your employees are your teammates in the supply chain. They need to wear many hats in order to maximize visibility in the supply chain. Multi-talented employees can connect the dots, and independently solve issues. By focusing on workflow, critical decisions can be made with confidence. As a result in everything running smoother.
Additional supply chain resources
Blog: See More, Know More, and Do More with Your Global Supply Chain: Discover Navisphere® Vision
Blog: 4 Lessons Learned on the Path to Supply Chain Efficiency
Video: Managing Supply Chain Risk
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Final thoughts
Traditionally, supply chains have been built with a focus on logistics. Analyzing the movement of goods as they go in and out of factories or warehouses and adapting has always been the key to improvement. However, the rise of digital supply chain networks has caused the whole industry to shift.
As supply chains grow and become more expansive, visibility becomes increasingly important. It can result in limiting disruptions, preventing late deliveries and improving workflow.
Looking for more information? Learn how C.H. Robinson can help unleash the full potential of your supply chain.
Supply chain visibility is the ability to track different goods and/or products in transit, giving a clear view of the inventory and activity. It enables shippers to improve customer service and cost controls through management of inventory in motion, proactive status updates, limiting disruptions and risk mitigation.
Interruptions: Lack of visibility into your supply chain can cause companies to lose track of their supply network. If you don't have the technology that permits you to forecast demand, you could be left with not enough or too much inventory at different points in your supply chain.
Supply chain visibility involves a major trading partner to connect any part of a company's supply chain to access data in real time on inventory levels, shipment status and similar key information. This type of information sharing allows companies to prepare for future actions of their trading partners.
Using data analytics can help supply chain managers to get better visibility across the supply chain. Collaborating data with suppliers and other business partners can help you create a supply chain network with more data sharing and transparency.
Supply chain visibility (SCV) refers to the transparency of tracking a product from initial shipment to final delivery. The goal is to make data available to everyone involved, even the customer, which can strengthen and improve the overall supply chain.
Companies are optimized for better performance if management has high and full visibility in the organization. High visibility generally means they are confident in their projections. Low visibility, on the other hand, means the opposite; that their confidence is low.
The five most critical elements of SCM are developing a strategy, sourcing raw materials, production, distribution, and returns. A supply chain manager is tasked with controlling and reducing costs and avoiding supply shortages.
Why is it important in supply chain management for suppliers to have visibility into a company's forecast and sales data? Suppliers can build or deplete their inventory. Suppliers can maintain their supply of products based on the original demand forecast numbers.
Production is one among the most important aspects of this system. It is only possible when all the other components of the supply chain are in tandem with each other. For the process of production to start it is essential that proper planning and supply of goods, as well as the inventory, are well maintained.
Visibility into the supply chain allows firms to be more sensitive about potential supply risks and disruptions that might affect production. Consequently, high-SCV firms can have lower exposure to unexpected issues that might disrupt production schedules or affect their ability to meet customer requirements.
Similar to traceability, supply chain visibility thrives on transparency. The main difference is that instead of knowing a product's entire journey, visibility focuses on knowing every touchpoint in your supply chain.
By definition, real-time visibility means having complete and accurate information about every aspect of the supply chain at all times. This level of visibility is essential for making informed decisions, but it can be difficult to achieve.
This means using multiple methods to reach your customers, rather than just one or two – including both online and offline communications. This gives you the maximum number of opportunities to connect with potential customers.
Low visibility means the company does not have growth in its business and is not able to demonstrate confidence in its future projections. Low visibility can happen due to internal or external factors affecting the company. Such a company should provide reasonable projections about its future performance.
Transparency is what and how a firm communicates that information to consumers, partners, and stakeholders. Visibility gives a firm the knowledge of operations across its supply chain; transparency is just what and how it conveys that knowledge to consumers, associates, and stakeholders.
When matching or adjusting your speed for poor conditions or limited visibility, you must evaluate three key elements: space, traction and visibility (STV).
High visibility leads to high brand awareness, and together they produce a host of benefits, including: Instilling in customers a sense of trust in your company, brand, and products. Discoverability early in the engineer's buying cycle.
The visibility is depending on the number of aerosols in the air (water droplets, ice crystals or other particles like dust), as the aerosols will reflect the incoming light. The more aerosols that are present in the air, the poorer visibility.
Generally the key aspects of Supply Chain management are Purchasing (sourcing), Planning (scheduling) and Logistics (delivery). Sometimes logistics is separate, and procurement may be included with Purchasing, depending upon how location specific the procurement activities are.
Integration, operations, purchasing and distribution are the four elements of the supply chain that work together to establish a path to competition that is both cost-effective and competitive.
CIO, the business magazine from Boston's International Data group, have identified six core components of good SCM: Planning, Sourcing, Making, Delivering, Returning, and Enabling.
Supply chain visibility allows companies to keep track of inventory and activity as goods or products transit. It allows shippers to improve customer service and control costs by managing inventory in motion, providing proactive status updates, reducing disruptions, and minimizing risk.
By tracking every movement of goods throughout the supply chain, businesses can identify disruptions as they happen and take action to mitigate the damage. This type of visibility also allows businesses to predict where disruptions are likely to occur and take proactive measures to avoid them.
Why is it important in supply chain management for suppliers to have visibility into a company's forecast and sales data? Suppliers can maintain their supply of products based on the original demand forecast numbers.
The main goal of supply chain management is to manufacture products and deliver them to the end consumers. However, providing the product is not the only goal; the quality of that product also matters. You should provide consumers with a product that offers the best value possible.
The ultimate goal of effective supply chain management is higher profits through improved customer satisfaction and a lower cost of doing business. Profits are healthier when costs are controlled and reduced wherever possible.
There are four pillars of supply chain operational risk—supply, demand, process and environmental ecosystems. Knowing how to identify and manage these risks is key to building a supply chain that is resilient and able to adapt to today's fast-moving, ever-changing landscape.
Just 13% of firms have supply chain visibility - Deloitte. The report found that just 13% can map their entire supply chain network, and that up to 22% have no visibility beyond their immediate suppliers.
Supply chain agility refers to a company's ability to quickly adjust its strategy, particularly in procurement, inventory management and delivery to meet rapidly changing supply chain requirements.
What is cost visibility for supply chains? Cost visibility is the ability for shippers to have a full view of their costs per shipment and per product across their supply chain including freight costs, logistics costs and landed costs.
Visibility is the ability to track and monitor the status and location of parts, components and products as they move along through the supply chain from origin to destination.
End-to-end supply chain visibility allows you to massage and control every piece of your supply chain for optimized results for both you and your customers.
You need to provide live updates on shipment progress, live tracking, online chats, timely push notifications, delays, or returns and keep them 'in the loop' at all times.
One reason is supply chains were not designed to be transparent. Companies and suppliers have feared that divulging too much information would undermine their competitive advantage or expose them to criticism.
Some of the most common issues that arise when there's a lack of transparency into a company's supply chain are excessive waste and costs, missing goods, and customer churn. All of these factors can have detrimental effects on productivity and your bottom line.
Lack of Visibility: Knowing how much inventory you have and where it's going doesn't just affect your ability to ship accurately. Without accurate, real-time inventory data it's almost impossible to determine key performance indicators (KPIs) like on-time shipments, perfect order percentages, out-of-stocks, etc.
Similar to traceability, supply chain visibility thrives on transparency. The main difference is that instead of knowing a product's entire journey, visibility focuses on knowing every touchpoint in your supply chain.
According to recent research studies, 94% of consumers are more likely to be loyal to a brand that offers complete supply-chain transparency, and 39% say they're willing to switch to a more transparent brand.
By making data readily available to employees and the public, leaders can hold their businesses accountable and ensure that every step the organization takes is in its own best interest.
Transparency fosters trust and open communication. It strengthens relationships between employees and their employers and helps nurture an environment of collaboration.
Introduction: My name is Pres. Carey Rath, I am a faithful, funny, vast, joyous, lively, brave, glamorous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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