Real-time visibility across your supply chain helps lower your costs, makes your operations more efficient, and improves your customer relationships. As AI and other technological advances have improved, more supply chain visibility platforms have emerged. They all promise real-time tracking, but that doesn’t mean every solution is right for you.
Supply chain visibility solutions differ in their data quality, coverage, integrations, and operational scope. Not all platforms give you actionable insights. Learn to understand which supply chain visibility platform capabilities you actually need for a positive impact.
What is Supply Chain Visibility Software?
Supply chain visibility software refers to any technology that collects data from carriers, IoT and other location tracking devices, operating systems, and other sources to show how your goods move across the supply chain.
The software integrates with your enterprise resource planning (ERP), tracking management systems (TMS), and warehouse management systems (WMS) to connect data from multiple systems into a full, real-time picture of your supply chain. You get a unified view of goods, materials, assets, and systems.
Stronger platforms use artificial intelligence and machine learning to go beyond real-time inventory tracking data. These platforms offer alerts and performance monitoring. They also analyze data to generate insights that guide your operations and decision-making.
Key Features of Supply Chain Visibility Software
A supply chain visibility tool offers features and capabilities that work together to create a more accurate and connected view of your whole supply chain from raw materials to delivered goods. These features turn supply chain data into actionable insights.
Real-Time Tracking
The ability to track the location, movement, and status of materials, shipments, and assets keeps you from having to react to disruptions. If you see a shipping delay, you can immediately make plans to reroute the delivery.
End-to-end visibility also enhances your customer service levels. Real-time location systems help you prevent stockouts and overstocking. You can also pass shipment location information on to your customers.
Sensor and System Integration
A platform that integrates with your IoT sensors, ERP, WMS, and TMS systems gives you a single source of information for supply chain activities. Sensors offer real-time location data, WMS systems tell you what’s in the warehouse, and TMS systems tell you what’s en route.
Using a platform that doesn’t offer these integrations means you have to manually enter data from one system into your supply chain visibility platform.
Data Accuracy and Freshness
Platforms that don’t immediately update WMS, TMS, and other systems can undermine supply chain visibility. For example, a platform that integrates with multiple systems and updates in real-time can change inventory data in your WMS and your client relationship management platform to improve supply chain traceability.
Every member of your team knows what you have on hand. You’re not potentially selling inventory that’s not in stock.
Asset and Inventory Visibility
Visibility isn’t limited to what’s in your warehouse. Supply chain visibility software that tracks inventory levels, asset location, availability, movement, and utilization helps reduce your operational costs. See how Surgere’s Asset Management solutions work.
Real-time asset tracking can save workers time they would’ve spent looking for tools. Utilization tracking helps you understand which assets you use the most and which you can reduce within your warehouse.
Transportation and Shipment Visibility
It’s important to know your inventory’s location while it’s in transit. Customers appreciate predictive ETAs and shipment status updates. Software with real-time transportation visibility that also tracks carrier movement, route progress, dwell, and transportation exceptions helps you compare multiple shipments over time.
These insights identify potential bottlenecks in your workflows and help you plan more efficient routes. See how Surgere’s Transportation Visibility Solutions can impact your planning and operations.
Production and Workflow Monitoring
Software that offers production monitoring connects your manufacturing plant floor and your logistics systems. Accurate data on material flows, work-in-progress, production activity, and operational workflows enables you to identify and fix bottlenecks.
A system like Surgere’s production control solution can impact transportation planning to reduce idle time. You can also track cycle times for each product.
Exception Alerts and Risk Management
Some supply chain visibility tools offer automated notifications for delays and exceptions. You become aware of delays, deviations, shortages, and potential risks earlier when solving the problem is more feasible. If a solution isn’t available, your team can notify the customer right away.
Predictive Insights and Forecasting
AI supply chain visibility platforms analyze your historical data, market information, and other data to improve demand planning. You can anticipate changes in customer preferences or in your capacity sooner. Predictive insights also include potential shortages or operational issues. Your software might map your supplier network and flag potential disruptions, such as export controls or trade conflicts.
Performance Analytics and Reporting
Data isn’t particularly helpful if you don’t know what to do with it. Supply chain visibility and analytics platforms with reporting capabilities transform your data into a useful planning and operations tool.
Some platforms offer dashboards, supply chain KPIs, historical reporting, and trends analysis that shows how your supply chain efficiency has changed over time. You can see your strengths and identify opportunities for improvement.
Benefits of Supply Chain Visibility Software
Buying and implementing new software systems can be daunting when you evaluate upfront costs. The advantages of supply chain visibility software transform the cost into an investment. These benefits include:
- Better Inventory and Asset Utilization: Monitor your machines, trucks, and tools by usage, condition, and lifecycle to make more realistic maintenance and replacement schedules. Learn how different items turn over to inform replacement and replenishment schedules.
- Stronger Planning and Forecasting: AI can analyze large datasets and consolidate internal data and external data for more accurate planning and forecasting. You spend less time and money chasing trends and focus on what your customers actually want.
- Greater Supply Chain Resilience: Supply chain pressures change all the time. Visibility software helps you anticipate these changes and make plans to weather them.
- Better Cross-Functional Collaboration: Every part of your organization, from the sales team to the warehouse manager, has access to the same data, which enables each team to work together more effectively.
- Improved Customer Satisfaction: Supply chain visibility heavily impacts your overall efficiency. By improving visibility and service levels, you serve your customers more effectively.
What to Consider When Evaluating A Visibility Platform
Features aren’t the only consideration when choosing a supply chain management solution. You want a solution that has the features you need while fitting into your overall business goals. While comparing platforms, consider:
- Operational Fit: Choose a platform that addresses your specific visibility gaps, workflows and other supply chain visibility challenges.
- Data Quality: Look for a solution that gives you accurate, timely, and complete data for best results.
- Scalability and Flexibility: As your business grows and evolves, you need a solution that can expand across facilities, regions, use cases, and changing operational requirements.
- Coverage: It’s important to choose a solution that covers the relevant facilities, assets, carriers, modes, lanes, and supply chain stages that align with your business.
- Implementation and Adoption: Choose a solution with onboarding, usability, and deployment requirements that work for your operation. Ask about support so you know someone will be available when you have issues or questions.
How Surgere Improves Supply Chain Visibility and Performance
Surgere’s IoT-enabled supply chain visibility software combines accurate, real-time data with Interius for end-to-end visibility. Our solution gives you:
- IoT Enabled Tracking: Multiple technologies, such as RFID tracking technology, Bluetooth, UWB, and cellular data capture real supply-chain data across the globe. See how it works.
- 99% Data Accuracy: Surgere focuses on capturing highly-accurate, reliable data that sets a realistic foundation for operational decision-making.
- Exception and Performance Monitoring: Identify issues and improve performance with surface alerts, trends, and operational insights.
Choosing the Right Supply Chain Visibility Software
The best supply chain visibility platform for your organization depends on your visibility gaps, operational environment, and data needs. Prioritize platforms that give you relevant operational coverage, reliable data, and usability over a list of features. Find a solution that integrates with your existing software and provides actionable insights that matter to you.
Schedule a demo today to see if Surgere is the right fit for you.
