According to a latest Aberdeen Group report of supply chain professionals, organizations that want to manage their supply chain efficiently must learn to adopt business intelligence (BI) software. Survey respondents reported the key challenges that drive BI inventiveness to include more significant global operations complexity; requirement of visibility into the supply chain; a necessity to enhance top-line revenue; and more meaningful than before revelation to risk in the supply chain. Unpredictable fuel costs, import/export constraints and challenges, and thin profit margins are motivating the need for businesses to understand all the reasons that affect their bottom line ultimately.
Business Intelligence fundamentally means transforming the sea of data into knowledge for efficient business use. Organizations have extensive operational data that can be utilized for trend analysis and business planning. To operate more competently, amplify revenues, and promote collaboration among trading partners firms should incorporate BI software that enlightens the meaning behind the data.
There is a vast amount of data to manage and track within a supply chain, such as shipping costs, repair expenses, key performance pointers on suppliers and carriers, and resources trends. Being able to dig down into this information to present analysis and recognize historical patterns gives organizations the game-changing information they require to transform their business.
Using BI in Logistics
Applying BI tools within a transportation service can implement: comprehensive monitoring over the complete supply chain, including metrics such as on-time delivery, to recognize delivery issues at any time in the process. A more extensive understanding of fuel, dray, and accessorial charges at a detail or summary level. Comprehensive evaluation of vendor display of on-time deliveries and work system performance. Review the number of work requests by motor carrier and time connecting assigned and affirmed to identify key partners, consolidate workload to better-performing customers, and increase equipment utilization.
The facility to drill down into freight history for decision-making and constant improvement. Distinctness into events that impact on-time transportation and asset utilization for greater decision and risk mitigation. Acumen into what drives costs and profit inside the supply chain, so administrators allocate resources competently and know where to make alterations.
The experience to update strategy instantly to stay ahead of the competition is imperative. Business Intelligence within the transportation and logistics operation can increase profitability with an in-depth critique of the service and network collection across customers, suppliers and every step in the logistics chain. Companies can pursue supplier performance upon service level agreements to recognize opportunities, concert intelligently, and build rate contracts based on results.
Accurate reporting is the most critical feature of a business intelligence solution. Drill down to analyze pathways, loads, transports, bookings, slotting, wait times, delivery audit and payment to realize cost variables. Streamline acquiescence reporting with drill-down detail to documentation. Organizations can also build visual models using powerful charts and graphs where the reports can be static or interactive and observed online to enable management to track operational development.
Why Supply Chain Requires BI
Business Intelligence within the supply chain enhances internal competencies and accountability while preserving time and excluding costs with metrics-driven decision-making and shift management. It permits companies to allow more predictable business performance by establishing actionable knowledge into the hands of crucial decisiveness makers.