Supply Chain Visibility Test

Sorry that I have not been able to write anything for the past couple of months, but I have been busy with both personal and professional life.

I have been thinking about Supply Chain Visibility for the past couple of weeks. I read a note from somebody that stated that 50+% of the participants for an upcoming Logistics Conference wanted to know more about Supply Chain Visibility. For me this is something that I have had and been working with for the past couple of years.

My Supply Chain allows me to do label my cartons for final delivery while they are still in China, load up on to separate containers and zone skip them into Small Package carriers close to my stores. While doing this entire process I am able to know where each carton in along the way. The way I am able to do this is by getting constant EDI updates from my Business Partners and carriers.

My system allows me to look at a PO and drill down to view the actual cartons within that PO and then based upon the last EDI transmission, I know where my carton is within my Supply Chain and when it is anticipated on delivering to my final destination.

Based upon what I am doing I feel that I have Very Good Supply Chain visibility, but do I and how do I compare what I am doing with others? In order to answer that there needs to be a standardized "test" for determining Supply Chain Visibility. Below is such a test. I used the standard Snelling Eye Test (you know the one with the BIG E at the top and depending upon how far down you can read tells you how well you can see)to come up with my own Supply Chain Visibility Test.

20/200 You have no visibility into your Supply Chain, you only have a Purchase order management system telling you when your orders have a ship/cancel window.

20/100 You have very limited visibility into your Supply Chain, but it is some visibility. You are able to know when orders arrive at certain milestones and if it is short or complete but only at the PO level. Your visibility is based off of emails being sent to you from somebody on the other end.

20/50 You are have limited connectivity with your Business partners (factories, carriers etc). You might have a system in place at one of your Business partners that is sending data back to you, but you are still getting emails or going through their websites to get the balance of the data.

20/20 You have a system in place that pulls data from all Business partners into your system. You are able to get not only receipt information on your Purchase orders, but also know the details of the cartons (tracking numbers, destination and current location) in your Supply Chain. Everything is being done automatically and nothing is being done manually. All data is also captured and viewed in 1 system from womb to tomb.

20/10 This is the next level of visibility. You not only have all of the visibility above, but you are able to take that visibility and use it to your advantage to "divert" cartons as needed to other destinations while in your Supply Chain once it arrives at one of your Supply Chain milestones.

Take a look at this and let me know your thoughts and where you fall within the test.

I feel that I have a 20/20 Supply Chain Visibility.