Big data has promised to revolutionize supply chains worldwide, but not all investments are paying off. While companies have rushed to implement costly, comprehensive data solutions, many are now questioning the return on investment and are left struggling to turn raw data into actionable intelligence – and most importantly, business outcomes.
There is now an overwhelming amount of data flooding in from various channels and software systems every day. And, despite spending significant capital on data infrastructure, a growing disconnect exists between the data and actionable insight, impacting ROI.
Supply chain leaders across the globe now have access to more data and dashboards than at any point in history – but how does it translate to business growth?
Avoiding paralysis by analysis
Continued global supply chain disruption, labor shortages, and political uncertainty are taking their toll on supply chain personnel, who are more time poor than ever before.
The proliferation of data dashboards at their fingertips is often adding to, rather than easing, this pressure by providing abundant information without enough time for meaningful analysis.
Additionally, Business Intelligence (BI) and data teams are producing insights faster than businesses can consume them, and technology and product teams are stretched thin on resources, leaving a major gap in turning insights into actionable outcomes.
While the pressure on supply chain leaders to deliver won't change, our approach to the way we consume data must.
To better understand and utilize data, consider the following approaches:
- Align BI with Business Processes: BI teams should study and understand the business processes they're supporting. This knowledge allows them to create more relevant and actionable insights. Business teams should also invest time in understanding how their tech partners work, highlighting opportunities in the right place and time to ensure resourcing.
- Incorporate Actionable Recommendations: BI tools should go beyond just presenting data. They should recommend specific actions when anomalies or concerning trends are detected. For example, if a forecast falls outside of an accuracy range, a dashboard could point the user to a remediation step that the organization has found useful in the past.
- Streamline Dashboard Delivery: Focus on quality, not quantity. Study usage statistics and ensure that users have awareness of the tools available, training, and support. Focus on having less tools, but a greater business impact with each one.
- Focus on Outcomes: Shift the emphasis from merely producing insights to driving tangible business outcomes. This requires a more holistic approach that considers how insights translate into actions and results.
Consider the following practical guidelines:
- Limit the Clicks: How many links, filters, and clicks does it take for a user to get to an insight? If it is more than 2 or 3, then there are opportunities to simplify the content being presented.
- Prioritize the Work: Study the time a user has available to drive action from an insight. For example, if 50 categories of problems are showing up in the data, but a user can only action 10, drive visibility and priority to those top 10.
- Right Time and Place: Supply chains move fast and understanding how and when a user has time and space to dive into BI tools is critical. If a user can receive key insights before important weekly meetings, the next wave of orders dropping into a system, or a few hours before the close of business – that timing can make all the difference in driving insights into outcomes.
In a world drowning in data, the key to success lies not in the quantity, but in the quality and actionability of insights.
By aligning BI with business processes, incorporating actionable recommendations, streamlining dashboard delivery, and focusing on outcomes, supply chain leaders can transform their data into a powerful tool for growth, resilience, and competitive advantage. It's time to break free from the paralysis of analysis and turn data into a catalyst for action.
From data overload to supply chain success
As organizations are struggling to align their tech investments with their business needs, there’s an opportunity in the supply chain to leverage digital assets more effectively by focusing on utilizing smarter data analysis.
Whether in grocery, automotive, retail, or any other industry, this approach will drive significant improvements in inventory management, customer service, and overall business performance.
This blog is Part Two in a series exploring data in your supply chain, Revisit Part One where Chris Michel uncovers the benefits that can be gained from the smallest of data here.
Chris Michel is Director of Digital Solutions at TMX Transform.
