Having a clear, end-to-end picture of one’s supply chain at any given moment in time is vital – and never more so than now, when the risk barometer is reading ‘stormy’, thanks to a conveyor belt of shocks that have included Covid, labour problems.
As if that wasn’t enough, the two most important sea freight routes – the Panama and Suez Canals – are currently compromised by drought and military unrest respectively.
Having visibility around suppliers is a must for businesses who want not just to survive difficult times, but to thrive. Having a resilient supply chain in today’s world is a powerful marketing tool, but this is not possible without reliable supplier data.
And yet, reliable data is something many businesses still lack. Sales teams have long been able to access data about customers and prospects, but less so supply chain managers, who in a tough market must be able to gauge the financial health of a supplier before engaging them.
And it’s not knowing the financial health of suppliers that is important to maintaining a resilient supply chain – it’s also having a 360-view of the economic and political stability of a given territory, region or country.
One of the…
