Craig says that systems like
MercuryGate’s transportation management system, a system enVista
works with frequently, can set up a
purchase order confirmation with
vendors and then track whether
vendors hit specific milestones even
prior to shipping and send reminder
e-mails at specific points in the cycle
to ensure goods move on time.
He says it is relatively simple to
establish an Internet portal that
provides visibility into orders for
vendors, carriers, and DCs.
THE PROMISE AND THE REALITY
All this is very promising. The prob-
lem is, while the vision of integrated
end-to-end visibility may be com-
pelling, the reality is that achieving
it is very difficult across a global
supply chain. And lack of visibility
continues to complicate business
supply chains. Kefer of GT Nexus
gives the example of one U.S.-based
retailer trying to set up shop in Asia.
Because of a lack of visibility into its
Asian supply chain, the company
has been forced, at least for a while,
to ship goods made in Asia to the
United States for re-export back
across the Pacific.
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suppliers, but in many cases, those depend
on the supplier to key in the status.” In only
a relatively few cases, he says, do systems
update each other.
Kefer of GT Nexus makes much the same
point. “In reality, very few companies have a
single monitoring system across the supply
chain or value chain that gets all the compa-
nies they deal with on the same page.”
The difficulty, he says, is linking all the
partners. “It is tough to solve the technolo-
gy [challenges],” he says. “Most software
systems, ERP systems, order management
systems are installed software. When you
try to hook up networks through data
grids, there are a lot of files flying around,
but no one is looking at them.”
But the visibility is coming. Kefer con-
tends that the development of cloud tech-
nologies will eventually enable end-to-end
supply chain visibility. “The analogy we use
is Facebook or LinkedIn,” he says. “When
you change jobs, once upon a time you had
to send everyone the information. If you
were lucky, 30 percent of your network
would update. Now, you can go to LinkedIn
and change your profile.
“We apply the same information model
to the supply chain, but the information is
on inventory, ETA, documents attached to
the inventory, or line items attached to that
inventory as it moves through manufacturing, logistics, and even final payment. You
get the full picture rather than a few pixels.”
Accomplishing that can be daunting.
“Companies are still trying to solve their
TMS and ERP software [problems],” Kefer
says. “But we think the cloud is a game
changer.” Like McBeath, he says the key will
be linking supplier, carrier, banking, and
other systems. The more extended the network, he adds, the more valuable it becomes.
And therein lies the difficulty. While most
major transportation carriers have the capability, suppliers are “a different beast,” Kefer
says. “There is still a long way to go. There
could be 400,000 suppliers in Asia. A lot of
them don’t have systems. But if they are
hooked to the Internet, they can still interact.”
Yet broader visibility is on its way. Kefer
returns to the social network metaphor:
“The value of Facebook or eBay is the network. The value is there’s a billion people in
it. That’s the game we’re in right now, getting that network density.” ;
