Understanding the Supply Chain Data Continuum

Single Source
When companies first set out to leverage their supply chain data to improve or optimize some aspect of their business, they typically start by trying to “ask” questions related to single sources of data, questions like “how much did we sell last quarter?” are common, and require access to data such as the corporate ERP, CRM, HR, POS or disparate Excel files.

Multi-Source
As companies mature in their analytics, questions become more complex like “Do we have enough inventory to cover our orders?” The answers to these questions usually require data to be pulled from more than one data source. Disparate data sources can be accessed through BI systems and combined, which allows for more complex and sophisticated assessments of the business.

Data Cleansing
Once companies can access their data easily through an analytic system, data quality becomes critical. Bad data = Bad decisions, so Data quality tools and processes are integral to maturing the Supply Chain BI platform. Data quality tools help companies avoid the problems associated with making decisions based on incorrect or incomplete information.

Real-Time
Becoming ever more critical in supply chain information management is the need to incorporate real-time data. Real-time data is more complicated to manage and analyze, but the benefits of doing it right are great. Intelligence in real time systems is updated on a frequent basis, either every few minutes or even continuously as new data becomes available. This allows supply chain managers to respond better to situations as they arise. Customer satisfaction, production efficiency and sales can all be improved.

Big Data
The holy grail of data the data continuum and the most complex to manage and utilize is “Big Data”. Big Data refers to unstructured data from external sources such as machine sensors, weather, and social media feeds that are incorporated into the Supply Chain BI system. Used properly, Big Data improves insight into the larger business eco-system.

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About the Author
Ray Major is the Chief Strategist of Halo Business Intelligence. A data scientist, economist and statistician by training, he’s a life-long practitioner in the mysterious arts of data intelligence and analytics.

You can contact Ray by email at [email protected] and also follow him on Twitter at @majorbi