Visibility is a hot supply chain topic. Our writers have cranked out articles on the subject, Buzz posts links to visibility articles every week, and I bet you’ve heard from sales guys and marketers pushing their solutions. But what’s it mean when you really get down to it?

Back in the old days when I led a large EDI/eBusiness team, visibility to us meant the ability to locate and see a transaction from beginning to end. For example, for an outbound document we’d want to see it tracked from the ERP module, through our interface, into our translator, in its interchange on the way to the VAN, at the VAN, and receipt verified from the partner. Read more...