The Need for Supply Chain Visibility

Modern day supply chains are complex and far-reaching therefore, organisations need visibility across all modes and functions to improve insights. However, there exists gaps in the supply chain which make it difficult for businesses to reach their potential.  

So, what is Supply Chain Visibility?  

According to Forbes, supply chain visibility (SCV) is the ability to monitor and trace products and services, encompassing the status of orders and the physical shipment of products from their creation to their final destination. This entails overseeing logistics operations, transportation, and the various events and milestones occurring within a multi-tier network. Therefore, visibility in supply chain can be assessed across four data streams: manufacturing, supplier, logistics and enterprise and all these four streams show gaps which are yet to be filled.  

Goals of Supply Chain Visibility  

The broader goal of supply chain visibility is to mitigate risk, boost customer satisfaction, improve efficiency and increase profits. Organisations, achieve these results through improved planning, better quality insights, recruiting the right people and through deploying software technologies. Therefore, accessing this data in real-time helps organisations to monitor and improve efficiency of their supply chain.  

3 Key Challenges to SCV-  

1. Sharing information and data: Having a system in place which shares all information between different tiers and functions requires global visibility and real-time data across the supply chain. 
   
   
2. Lack of standardization: Due to lack of universally accepted standards for supply chain data, different suppliers use different formats and terminologies to describe processes. Thus, this lack of standardisation makes it difficult to analyse data and collaborate effectively among teams.
   
   
3. Security Concerns: Sharing sensitive data with third parties and suppliers can increase the risk of cyber-attacks and data breaches. Therefore, organisations need to ensure that they have proper security measures in place to protect their data.  

Key Benefits of SCV:  

Supply chain visibility leads to stronger and more agile supply chain. Let’s look at key benefits of supply chain visibility:  

1. Meeting customer demands: With enhanced visibility you can meet your customer demands on time and hence boost customer satisfaction.  
   
   
2. Reduce costs: According to the Annual Global Supply Chain Report, from Interos (2021), global supply chain disruptions cost companies $184 million annually. Hence visibility reduces risks and businesses can foresee their costs.
   
   
3. Data –driven results: Visibility across all aspects of supply chain help analyse data which is beneficial for decision making which ultimately leads to greater supply chain success.  

Final thoughts:  

As supply chains grow and become more expansive, visibility reduces risks and becomes increasingly important to achieve business goals and objectives.