Why Supply Chain Visibility Is Critically Important
By Mark Petersen, Vice President of Transportation C.H. Robinson Worldwide W hile not always predictable, external factors can have a significant impact on supply chains. It is more important than ever for businesses to know exactly where items are in the supply chain at all times. The ability to watch and monitor a supply chain, often referred to as supply chain visibility, is the best way to adapt to external events and optimize your supply chain for whatever the market brings next. What is supply chain visibility? Your ability to track different goods and/or products from pickup to delivery determines your level of supply chain visibility. Ideally, you have a clear view of inventory and activity at all times. Having a clear view enables you to identify and avoid disruptions and seamlessly integrate with fully automated interactions. As a result, your supply chain becomes stronger and more agile—an even more critical step when shipping sensitive products, like fresh produce. Total supply chain visibility goes beyond locating your goods. Applying your own shipping data with events happening around the world can deliver advanced insights on how your supply chain works, recommendations to add efficiency, and strategies to reduce risks. Benefits to clear supply chain visibility • Ability to better anticipate and mitigate disruptions • Greater agility and flexibility
• Faster speed to market through clear planning • Data-driven analytics to improve long-term results Supply chain visibility needs the right technology Technology plays a huge role in optimal supply chain visibility and acts as a true “X-ray machine.” The right technology can provide the visibility needed to accurately assess supply chain infrastructure and performance. The good news is that when you choose to bring in an external provider, you can expect them to dedicate their time to analyzing the opportunities and gaps in your ordering, shipping, transportation, and receiving processes. Automation offered by the best supply chain providers helps ensure freight flows easily through the supply chain. By creating a “universal language” that is spoken digitally by all parties, technology considerably improves both speed and clarity. With Western Growers’ exclusive third party logistics provider, C.H. Robinson, you can use proprietary technology to optimize your supply chain and improve visibility—without adding headcount. Our experience and scale deliver a unique information advantage, creating better outcomes for our customers. At C.H. Robinson, the heart of our technology advantage is our proprietary Navisphere® platform. It connects a network of over
32 Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com JULY | AUGUST 2019
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