The supply chain is undoubtedly one of the most crucial parts of any business. For this reason, most executives believe that getting the supply chain right will translate to better supply chain costs. This is not an easy task considering the supply chain is a series of discrete siloed steps that are taken through marketing, development, manufacturing and distribution of a product to the hands of a customer. However, with digitization, the siloes are broken. The chain becomes an integrated, transparent ecosystem for each player, from raw material suppliers, components suppliers and transporters of finished products to the customers who demand fulfillment.

Supply chain is a complicated beast, and we can’t afford to skimp on the details (e.g. timeliness, quality, logistics, etc.) in our business operations. Despite the fact that the term is often used interchangeably with “dispatch”, it has a very different meaning and tends to be more about planning for delivery than about getting goods from one point to another on a defined schedule.

No matter how effective you think your supply chain is, there are areas that you will want to closely monitor to ensure they are as highly effective as possible to enable things to run smoothly. While doing so, note that a timely response to important events within the supply chain can make a substantial difference between lagging and leading the pack. But how can you ensure that you know every important detail of what is going on in the supply chain and take advantage of this knowledge to remain on top? This is where supply chain monitoring becomes crucial every step of the way.