How to Solve Supply Chain Disruptions with Real-Time Visibility

Supply chain issues commonly cause havoc to businesses through revenue loss due to angry customers and further inefficiencies in the supply chain. They are usually affected by all kinds of disruptions in this modern, complex, and interdependent world. Their supply chains are, thus, more vulnerable than ever to the impact of disruption.

Real-time visibility is not a tool but rather an asset that allows supply chain professionals to act promptly and decisively in response to disruptions, thereby getting them in control of the situation.

Real-time visibility is not a tool but an asset in its own right that makes the professionals working in the supply chain quick to respond and take proper action against disruptions, so that they remain in control.

Read on to learn how the importance of real-time visibility can be illustrated in many respects in the mitigation of supply chain disruptions.

Supply Chain Disruptions: Definition

Supply chain disruption seriously impacts companies, causes customer dissatisfaction, and damages brand reputation. Hence, it is imperative to understand the various types of business disruption:

Types of Supply Chain Disruptions

1. Delay in Transportation: Delays due to congestion, accidents, or severe weather would delay transportation and lead to loss owing to unfulfilled deadlines.
2. Having Stock Outs: Out-of-stock may arise due to unavailability of inventories, raw material shortages, and disruption, causing loss of sales.
3. Geopolitical Unrest: Economic fluctuation due to trade wars, tariffs, and changes in regulations can hamper trade in global supply chains by imposing extra costs.
4. Natural Disasters: Natural hazard-induced damage takes place as hurricanes and earthquakes, and affects supply chain operations.
5. Cyber Threats: Cyber-attacks could damage supply chain data and disrupt operations, causing financial losses.

Why Real-Time Visibility Matters

Visibility in real-time is what it takes to save the supply chain from such disruptions. As a CXO, it can add the following values to your business:

1. Reinforcement of Chains of Supply: Real-time visibility boosts supply chains’ adaptive responsiveness to disruptions, thereby increasing overall resilience.
2. Stimulate Business Growth: Real-time insights can inform decisions and improve forecasts for supply chain operations.
3. Make the most of customer satisfaction: With instant visibility, any service disruptions can be fetched quickly.

The Evolving Nature of Supply Chain Disruptions

Now, modern supply chains, being concrete entities, are subject to the threats of a widening range of disruptions.

The History of Major Supply Chain Disruptions

1. Global Lockdowns: The COVID-19 pandemic framed the contours of several weird supply chains across the globe as every country went through lockdowns, border closures, and disruptions in logistics.
2. Trade Conflicts: Trade wars and tariffs have caused tremendous impacts on the global supply chain, delays, and uncertainty.
3. Transport Bottlenecks: Heavy congestion at ports, roads, and railways has led to significant inefficiency in supply chains.

Increasing Complexity in Modern Supply Chains

1. Globalization: To determine how far they produce, supply chains nowadays are worldwide, from their suppliers to manufacturers through logistics providers.
2. Complexity: The multiple stakeholders, systems, and processes make the supply chains more and more vulnerable. 
3. Interconnectedness: Disruptions in one part of the interconnected modern supply chains can send shock waves across the entire system.

Consequences for Businesses

1. Revenue Loss: Disruption of the supply chain results in lost revenue because the businesses fail to meet the customer orders.
2. Customer Dissatisfaction: Disruption also results in late and incomplete deliveries, which brings about dissatisfaction from customers.
3. Supply Chain Inefficiencies: Disruption also leads to the failure of a supply chain. It has mostly failed to help businesses adjust to the changes.

Limited Visibility as a Challenge

1. Absence of Real-time Tracking: Their absence worsens the existing delays caused by complicated responses.
2. Incomplete Data: Inaccurate data can make the decision-making process complex and complicated.
3. Defective Communication: Faulty communication among the stakeholders might end up in delays and misunderstandings.

Mitigating Disruptions with Real-Time Visibility

Real-time visibility offers a strong promise of relief from supply chain interruptions. It provides businesses with real-time insights into supply chain operations, allowing them to anticipate and prepare for disruptions, reducing anxiety and uncertainty.

Improved Forecasting and Planning

Furthermore, real-time visibility assists organizations in proactively preparing for and managing supply chain disruptions. Thus, when real-time data are there, organizations can:

1. Forecast Demand More Accurately: With real-time data, businesses can better judge consumption.
2. Optimize Inventory Level: Real-time visibility helps businesses optimize inventory levels to avoid stockouts along with overheads caused by overstocking.
3. Generate Contingency Plans: Now, real-time insights allow you to devise contingency plans that mitigate the effect of potential disruptions.

Enhanced Risk Management

Real-time visibility provides a reassuring layer of risk management, helping companies detect potential disruptions before they occur. The availability of real-time data enables businesses to evaluate supplier performance, monitor environmental and traffic conditions, and predict potential interruptions, instilling a sense of security and preparedness.

1. Evaluate Supplier Performance: Businesses can now monitor supplier performance in real time because they are equipped with insights.
2. Monitor Environmental And Traffic Conditions: With real-time location and information, companies can locate adverse weather and prevailing traffic conditions.
3. Predict Potential Interruptions: Real-time provides business houses the ability to identify possible interruptions ahead of time to allow early measures.

Faster Response Times

Timely visibility allows businesses to respond rapidly and effectively to inevitable disruptions so that, in general, the effect on supply chain operations can be minimized. With real-time data, the companies can:

1. Fast Reaction to Interruptions: These instruments provide real-time visibility and support rapid reactions to interruptions with very little damage done to operations in the supply chain.
2. Amending Sourcing Operations: With real-time insight, businesses adjust their supply chain operations in real-time in response to the changing circumstances of the disaster.
3. Communicating with Stakeholders: The real-time visibility enjoyed by businesses will allow all stakeholders in the process-consumers, suppliers, and logistics providers to have a completely different experience.

Increased Transparency and Collaboration

The businesses utilize actual-time visibility for transparency and collaboration throughout the supply chain so that they can be much more effective when working with suppliers, logistics providers, and other stakeholders. Some uses for real-time data include:

1. Real-Time Visibility Sharing Data With Stakeholders: Businesses use real-time visibility to share data between stakeholders.
2. Collaborate with Suppliers: With real-time insights, businesses can identify potential risks and take proactive measures from that collaboration.
3. Better Communication with Logistics Providers: Real-time visibility enables real-time communication with logistics providers; therefore, supply chain operations are adjusted.

Implementing Real-Time Visibility in Your Business

This would entail auditing existing data infrastructure, installing IoT sensors and RFID, integrating with predictive analytics and AI, and generally moving to cloud-based solutions to engender collaboration and drive growth within one’s business.

1. Audit your Existing Data Infrastructure: Scan your data systems to locate places of improvement. 
2. Install IoT Sensors and RFID: Use IoT sensors with RFID for tracking inventory and shipments in real-time.
3. Blend Predictive Analytics and AI with Operations: Real-time data analysis with predictive analytics and AI generates predictions of forecasted disruptions. 
4. Build Cloud Flexibility: Implement cloud-based solutions for real-time visibility and collaboration. 
5. Construct Collaborative Networks with Partners: Build collaborative relationships with suppliers, logistics providers, and other stakeholders. 
6. Define KPIs for Success: Formulate key performance indicators to assess the accuracy of the real-time visibility platform.

Real-World Examples of Real-Time Visibility in Action

Real-time visibility in action in the real world would be achieved by companies such as Procter & Gamble, Walmart, and DHL, which have made gains in improving inventory management, delivery times, and supply chain efficiency.

1. Procter & Gamble: Tracking shipments and inventory levels in real-time has thus brought about a 10 percent reduction in inventory volume and resulted in a 20 percent increase in delivery performance. 
2. Walmart: A 15 percent reduction in out-of-stock conditions and a lessening of delivery durations by up to 25 percent were directly linked to the establishment of a real-time visibility platform over the entire supply chain for tracking inventory levels and shrinkage.
3. DHL: Implemented real-time visibility of shipments and their inventory levels; reduced transit time by 10 percent and increased delivery accuracy by 20 percent.

Conclusion

Disrupted supply chains can wreak havoc in business, but real-time visibility shows a glimpse of how one can find salvation.

Real-time data monitoring and real-time data analytics improve understanding of the functioning of the supply chain operations with insight into potential disruptors before they happen.

Such real-time visibility in business results in more value for the enterprise, and value adds to the competition in the interconnected world.

Curious for more insights into supply chain improvements? Visit our blogs by industry experts.