The Inovis Blog

I am an avid reader of history. I often compare items I read to modern day. I recently read a book on Rome, and now I am reading the 2nd in a three-part series of the Civil War by Shelby Foote. It amazes me how countries could support an Army that far away from their home, not to mention in enemy territory. Granted, once some of these armies got too far from home they faltered due to lack of supplies. Rome is the truly astonishing one to me. To conquer everything they did, in that era, they had to have a lengthy supply chain. You can only live off the land so much; you need supplies from home. Uniforms, weapons, food, etc. That is a long supply chain they have to keep protected and operating to keep their war machine running.

Image Credit: http://web.ics.purdue.edu

This made me think about the current state of the supply chain. Even with all of the forms of transportation, computers, machines, etc., there are still some manual processes which can break down a supply chain, just like the old days. The results are not as catastrophic as the Roman Legions going without armor into battle, but if you can’t get your goods into stores, or you have empty shelves or the wrong merchandise, you could lose the battle against your competitors. We as consumers are a fickle bunch, and have the tendency to shift gears quickly any time a slight impediment appears. Use the internet as an example. Say you love Barnes and Noble and they are on backorder for your favorite book. With a few keystrokes and mouse clicks, you are checking inventory on buy.com, overstock.com, amazon, ebay, etc. The options are almost limitless. In this day and age, you better have your act together or you will lose customers. But, this means your vendors better have their acts together. Vendor scorecarding is crucial here. You have got to work with your vendors, not against them, to make transactions as fluid as possible for both sides.

As far as protecting the supply chain goes, for the most part, unless you are going through rough waters, you don’t have to worry about pirates, bandits or other miscreants out to cut off your supply chain. Also, with today’s technology, shippers can work around some storms and other natural impediments. That being said, there are many factors involved that can easily derail a transaction. There are hackers out there that love throwing a monkey wrench into someone’s plans. So, you need a secure form of communicating with your business partners.

One of the most important areas is overall visibility. A Roman General at the front didn’t have much of a clue what was going on behind him. Messengers brought news that could be up to a few weeks or even months old. Therefore, the General had no idea when a break in the chain occurred. Supply Chain Visibility often reminds me of the classic quote “I can’t fix it if I don’t know what’s broken.” I couldn’t say it any better. I was reading a recent note from Susan Black, Publisher of Apparel Magazine, and she had some great points which don’t only apply to the retail industry. She asks some great questions such as, “can greater collaboration and better tools move us to a point where technology actually fosters a real relationship between retailer and supplier?” We think it can. When you can work with your vendors, identifying problems areas, correcting data-related errors BEFORE they affect the supply chain, you can increase your operational efficiency, lower your cost of doing business and save yourself some money, time and headaches. For both groups – hubs and spokes, retailers and suppliers, buyers and sellers – visibility is crucial and is the future of the supply chain.