Dive Brief:
- Channel data management systems that provide targeted insights are highly beneficial for effectively managing the supply chain, Data Informed recently reported.
- Lean inventory cushions, decreased product outages, and better product planning through awareness of customer preference will illuminate hidden data within untapped channels.
- Approximately $1.5 trillion worth of inventory remains concealed within unexamined channels.
Dive Insight:
Supply chain managers would ideally have a constant awareness of the production, storage, movement and sales of inventory, but even when complete visibility is achieved, the ability to manage inventory across the various channels remains elusive.
The issue is in information: channel management is not necessarily real-time monitoring, but the ability to consistently receive information from suppliers. Most supply chain run forecasts based on monthly, maybe weekly reports but the more detailed the data points the more powerful the analytics can become.
Of course, too much data can be a problem too. Negative fluctuations one week do not always mean the company will suffer the next week, but in the long-run the data points may show the third week of the year usually suffers. In turn, supply chain managers can prevent small-scale losses, and in aggregate, secure long-term gains.
