Visibility into operations is the biggest issue plaguing supply chains

Rising consumer expectations on delivery standards have compelled supply chains to react faster and push for digitalization, to ensure transparency across stakeholders and visibility into operations. Though it makes obvious sense to say visibility increases efficiency, the push towards greater operational visibility has remained a difficult task. 

One of the primary problems that face supply chains is the siloed approach within logistics verticals, which has traditionally reduced fluidity between operations and hampered efficiency. This leads to fragmented visibility, which was cited as the biggest challenge to operations by 84% of chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) in a survey conducted by IBM. 

However, global supply chains are not easily malleable to technology disruptions. The IBM survey found that 87% of CSCOs had extreme difficulty in predicting and managing disruptions and only 36% of the CSCOs had the wherewithal to gauge and manage disruption. 

“While visibility can mean different things depending on the organization, the bottom line is that hidden areas within the supply chain create unnecessary instability within service delivery. This, in turn, has a huge impact on customer experience and costs,” said Yamini Vellore, the chief information officer at Blume Global, a supply chain solutions provider. 

Vellore explained that inefficiencies could crop up due to factors that are unpredictable and far out of the control of individual companies – like weather conditions, geopolitical risks and unforeseen disruptions or delays in the flow of goods. Frequently fluctuating demand cycles also make it hard for companies to retain and hire drivers and to keep their carrier capacity in order.