Companies are willing to spend money to increase the visibility of supply chain data, due to the more complex nature of their supply chains. According to an AMR Research survey, companies are investing in scorecarding, simulation tools, probability techniques, early warning systems and a variety of information technology tools.
Teradata, a division of NCR Corporation, discussed the study at a recent industry event and emphasized the value of an enterprise data warehouse (EDW), which provides integrated visibility to the demand and supply chains by consolidating enterprise-wide data in a single source.
"The central EDW hub serves many purposes," said Jerry Hill, director of supply-chain intelligence solutions for Teradata. "Applications on an EDW deliver deeper data visibility and can monitor the supply network for leading indicators of problems, such as degradation of supplier performance, transportation time shifts and percentage of shipments subject to customs. The EDW is effective as a platform for modeling networks and supply-chain risks."
