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basictraining
data, or—now it gets tricky—make seasoned, informed
judgments from what big data seems to be trying to tell us.
Some, correctly in our view, have gone so far as to suggest
that big data is pretty much pointless without Big Judgment.
To complicate matters further, the point of big data analytics
is not to evaluate yesterday or model today; the information
is considerably more useful when it can be manipulated to
show us possibilities for the future. Adding a bent for predicting the future to the core requirement of an experience-based understanding of the data reduces the pool of capable
and competent decision-makers even further—shifting perceptions of big data to being an interesting toy or the abstract
province of impractical deep thinkers.
But for the moment, we need to face the reality that, in the
collective, our ability to apply decent judgment to Little Data
leaves a lot to be desired. We have some good analysts, but too
many who cannot differentiate among the meanings of
means and medians. And a distressing analytic population
has a penchant for reaching universal conclusions from single observations (such as claiming that all inventories share
movement and physical characteristics with auto parts).
SUCCESS AMONG THE DISAPPOINTMENTS
There are roses scattered among the thorns. A gigantic big
box retailer translates social media chatter into big data to
assess possibilities and probabilities for new products. An
auto-parts retailer has learned how to segment its markets by
vehicle distribution in given locales, allowing a customized
(and higher-service, lower-cost) inventory profile in stores.
A major retail drug chain has watched as many cherished
stocking principles and layout initiatives have gone by the
boards, casualties of newfound, big data-driven insights into
buying behavior by customer type and the surrounding
retailing environment.
FOR THE FUTURE
It is interesting to consider and debate the value of fully inte-
grated technologies spinning off real-time big data to avoid
accidents, find optimal routes, and leverage transport capac-
ity. Maybe some day …
Greater minds than ours will find and test those advanced
ideas. For now, we would be happy—even elated—to see
real-world, practical results from supply chain planning and
operations that draw from the learnings provided by smart
use of big data. And we suspect that we are not missing all
that much by skipping some of the over-hyped theoretic big
data presentations at conferences populated by hungry con-
sultants and credulous executives. ;
Art van Bodegraven may be reached at (614) 336-0346 or avan@columbus.rr.com.
You can read his blog at http://blogs.dcvelocity.com/the_art_of_art/. Kenneth B.
Ackerman, president of The Ackerman Company, can be reached at (614) 488-3165
or ken@warehousing-forum.com.
