Supply Chain Intelligence

by Curt Hall

Supply chain management (SCM) has become a hot topic in the computer press and in executive boardrooms around the world. This is due to the move toward digital exchanges -- such as online industry trading hubs and other marketplaces -- and the acceptance of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce in general. The trouble with SCM initiatives is that it is often difficult for companies to document their return on investment. Business intelligence (BI) can help by providing metrics for monitoring, measuring, reporting, and optimizing supply chain performance. Supply chains also generate and capture tremendous amounts of data that provide insight into a company, supplier, or other partner, as well as customer preferences and ordering trends. BI applied to supply chain operations and extended to trading partners via extranet portals can unlock this information. The underlying tenet of supply chain intelligence (SCI) is: if you can measure it, you can better manage it.