How Improvements In Global Supply Chain Visibility Help Mitigate Risks And Disruptions?

In the current hyper connected world, global supply chain visibility is very important when it comes to improvement of the business operations. 

With supply chain visibility, items can be tracked easily through the supply chain right from the time of manufacturing till the time it reaches out to its final destination. Hence, it is an important consideration for a number of businesses. 

So, in the current time, it is very important that you have track-able as well as robust supply chains. There are plenty of reasons behind it which includes threat to supply chains, increase in disruption and perhaps the focus which is put upon ESG concerns. 

Thus, in this article, we would give valuable information about how global supply chain visibility can help to mitigate the disruptions and the risks. Let us begin:- 

Supply chain visibility – What it is?

If you are looking out for end-to-end supply chain visibility, then you need to go through the complete supply chain and perhaps all your suppliers as well. But implementing this is not easy, especially in the case of global sourcing. 

Further, if we simply put it together, then supply chain visibility involves real time tracking during the entire journey of the shipment. 

Consequences of lack of supply chain visibility 

If a lack of visibility is present in the supply chain, then you won’t be able to track it. Thus, you won’t have excess to full sight of your goods right from the time it is manufactured till the time it reaches to the destination. 

Further, you won’t be having the data which showcases about your supply as well as how many stocks that you would be holding. In addition, you won’t have an idea about how the purchases are being made. 

Thus, due to this, your organization would be at significant risk when it comes to the human right issues as well as sustainability. Also, it can cause disruptions in the supply chain as well as uneconomical operations.  

What is the importance of supply chain visibility?

In the current time, supply chain visibility holds a lot of importance. Further, it is also important for the success of various organizations. 

If proper visibility of the supply chain is available, then it can lead towards an agile and robust supply chain, reduction in risk as well as better performance metrics. Also, to improve supply chain visibility, freight tracking system can be put into the place. 

So, here is some of the importance of supply chain visibility. Let us have a look:- 

• Supply Chain Can Be Made Stronger 

You may not have an idea but the world can be quite volatile. The reason is that conflict can occur, weather events can happen and so is the case with natural disasters. On the other hand, there can be instances when suppliers might run out of the business causing you delivery problems. 

Thus, if a line of sight is present across the supply chain, then potential threats can be caught easily and in such a scenario, you would be able to respond a lot faster. 

• Effective Management of Operations 

If the supply chain visibility is not available, then you won’t be able to have control over the customer service, stock levels and the lead times. Thus, if you don’t have complete sight over the supply chain, then you won’t be able to react when it comes to interruptions. 

Hence, you need to go through costly issues of supply due to too little or too much stock. Thus, in such a scenario, shipment tracking system can be quite useful. 

• Greater Control 

If smoother supply chain is available, then you would be able to manage the cost in a much effective manner. Also, you would have a lot more control in fulfilling the supply chain visibility due to reliable audit trails.  

• ESG Reporting And Performance Is Improved 

Social, Environmental and governance considerations have become a lot more high profile than it ever used to be. These days’ organizations are looking out to improve, monitor as well as report the sustainability credentials. Also, purchasers, investors and consumers put a lot of emphasis on the ESG factors and thus supply chain can become quite a spotlight. 

Also, ESG plays a very significant role when it comes to due diligence processes, reporting as well as the buying decisions. In this way, entire supply chain visibility can be obtained. 

• Risk Reduction Strategy 

There can be substantial risk that can come up with third-party which includes financial implications and substantial reputational implications which can lead to organizations not able to access the suppliers. Hence, it can help you with risk reduction strategy. 

Examples of Supply Chain Visibility 

• Location Of The Order 

You should have a complete understanding about from where the cargo has been purchased. Moreover, it is also important to understand the location of the cargo as it is useful in a number of ways such as stakeholder management, financial planning, operational efficiencies etc. 

• Costs 

A complete understanding should be on the rates that are incurred when the cargo is transported. But, the process has become quite complex due to the fact that global sourcing has become quite a norm and thus purchasing journeys have become a lot more complex. 

Thus, if you are looking to boost the cost-efficiency as well as manage and track spend, then accurate and comprehensive information would be needed on where you would be spending on the supply chain. 

• Audit Trail And Paperwork 

It is very important to have robust paper trail as the world is being governed by regulatory compliance. So, supply chain visibility basically means that proper transparency should be present in the records. Also, the ability to access the data based on freight movements, costs as well as custom declarations. 

Risk Management In Supply Chain 

 As per the issues that we have covered away, it is very evident that risk management and supply chain visibility go hand in hand. So, there are a number of ways a supply chain visibility can be reduced such as:- 

• If better communication is there, then it can contribute towards better collaboration and good oversight. Thus, if a supply chain is transparent, then communication would be done more effectively. The best part is that the communication can happen a lot more confidently alongside purchasers and suppliers. Moreover, the risk of minor issues turning into major problem is significantly reduced. Also, you can effectively scale up the operations with regards to the demand spikes or in the case of shortages or delays. Thus, due to this, the risk of financial or reputational penalties is reduced significantly. 

• If transparent supply chain is present, then ESG performance is improved and great provenance assurance is present. Also, the investor risk is significantly reduced when it comes to being associated with unethical suppliers. So, if a logistics tracking solution is put into place, then vendor risk management throughout the chain can be improved greatly. 

• A smarter and quick decision making is done based on the data that is provided using which informed decisions can be made. Also, the operations are optimized and efficiency is maximized based on the complete and robust data. Hence, supply chain visibility helps in delivering the data right from procurement to fulfillment.  

• All the threats are basically identified and mitigated at a very fast pace while keeping the facts under the fingertips. So, with supply chain visibility improvement issues can be identified which can cause a lot of trouble. Thus, the problems can be sent to the relevant team at an early stage while intervening effectively and perhaps enabling at a timely basis. 

• You would get complete sight regarding your supply chain and ensure that it is compliant alongside local legislation and regulations while putting in jurisdictions.  

How Supply Chain Visibility Can Be Achieved?

Data is very important when it comes to ocean freight visibility. But, it can be very challenging with regards to obtaining the data. The data types which are required for monitoring the supply chain agility and visibility are:- 

• Location of the cargo as well as status of the order 

• Invoices, documentation of the freight as well as any other order that might be required for compliant audit trail 

• Supplier ESG documentation and metrics 

• Real time data when it comes to goods movement 

Software Related To Supply Chain Visibility 

The supply chain data can be very challenging when it comes to capturing and in such regard freight tracking software can be very helpful. So, whenever you can select supply chain visibility software, there are few things having few objectives such as:- 

• The data need to be captured through the complete supply chain 

• You should be able to catch the data within the supply chain from a wide range of systems as well as sources. 

Thus, if you are in search of freight tracking software, then Tive Inc can come in handy for you. So, you can connect with them for more details of the software.