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Emerging networking and collaboration tools transform real-time data from global suppliers into vivid, multitier supply chain maps.

The devastating tsunami and subsequent nuclear accident that rocked Japan in 2011 brought the complexity and vulnerability of global supply chains into sharp relief. Across the globe, the automobile, electronics, chemical, and retail sectors, among many others dependent on Japanese output, were faced with unprecedented disruption of their supply chains.

At the time, few of the affected organizations had sufficient visibility into their supply chains to plan for, or respond effectively to, a disruption of this magnitude. “Global companies can have hundreds of thousands of suppliers,” says Leonardo Bonanni, Ph.D., CEO of Sourcemap, a provider of web-based supply chain visualization solutions. “Yet most cannot interact with these suppliers in real time.”

Sourcemap and other innovative startups are now offering a variety of tools that harness crowdsourcing, social media, and analytics, among other capabilities, to facilitate such interaction and help organizations map and visualize their increasingly complex global supply chains. “There are a number of players in the marketplace that are trying to do this,” says Peter Heron, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP who specializes in global supply chain transformation. “Companies have struggled to map their supply chains, particularly when they get to the second or third tiers. Any tools that can help them do this could potentially add strategic and operational value.”

LinkedIn for Supply Chains

As a graduate student at MIT Media Lab, Bonanni became intrigued with the idea of crowdsourcing data from suppliers around the globe, and presenting it visually. “For companies to develop greater visibility into their supply chains, it helps to actually see those extended supply networks in the form of a map.” (Click here for a short video from Deloitte Analytics’ Highly Immersive Visual Environment (HIVE) that explains how visualization technologies work and how companies can use them to manage supply networks more effectively).

Bonanni understood that for a map to add value to supply chain management efforts, it would have to present data in real time. Working with several companies that had long-standing relationships with multiple suppliers, he began exploring ways for these suppliers to keep customers consistently updated about shipping schedules, manufacturing delays, inclement weather, and other factors that could affect supply chains. His solution, he says, is remarkably simple. “We’ve created a social network for the extended supply chain,” says Bonanni. “It is a Web-based platform organizations deploy to visualize their internal data. It also allows them to invite vendors to contribute information on the second, third, and fourth tiers. Think of it as LinkedIn for supply chains.”

Bonanni describes how one client, a global CPG manufacturer, uses Sourcemap’s SaaS tool. “This company had no shared platform for piecing together key locations, shipping lanes, etc. It now uses Sourcemap as the central repository for all critical business continuity data relating to its global supply chain. All the purchasers, operations, and quality control people, as well as suppliers, collaborate by sharing their data on this central platform.”

Bonanni says that because information is depicted visually on a global map that all participants can view, anyone can act quickly to mitigate risks as they arise. Moreover, visualization capabilities can help organizations become more proactive in isolating and addressing risks, such as overdependence on a single supplier or source material.

Good Maps Start With Quality Data

Heron says that while collaborative supply chain visualization technologies could well transform the way many companies manage supplier networks, universally poor data quality could slow progress. “In almost every organization, supply chain data is never as clean as you want it to be,” he observes. “Whether you are pulling internally from ERP, or extracting it from siloed systems, there are always gaps in the data that could diminish the accuracy of mapping and planning efforts. Ongoing data quality improvement efforts would likely improve outcomes not only in supply chain, but in other analytics initiatives as well.”

Moreover, Heron cites reluctance to share data as a second hurdle organizations deploying supply chain technologies may face. “For many good reasons, companies guard their data,” he says. “Before sharing it on a social media platform with customers and, perhaps more important, with other companies that may be competitors, suppliers will rightly want know how the shared data will be used, and if there are potential risks to intellectual property.”

This same reluctance to share can also be seen within individual organizations, says Bonanni. “Finding the people who have access to data and building a productive team has always been the most significant challenge in getting this solution up and running,” he says. “The challenge often requires changing a company’s culture. If you get support from stakeholders, and secure access to critical data, visualization becomes considerably easier.”

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According to Heron, multiple forces will continue to drive demand for supply chain visualization technologies. For example, increasingly companies are considering options for both “reshoring” (bringing outsourced production back to the country where an organization is located) and “near shoring” (locating production in an adjacent country). Meanwhile, regulatory requirements governing trade and materials sourcing are evolving rapidly. These and other factors may add additional complexity to supply chain management strategies. Says Heron, “Going forward, visualization and other supply chain management technologies will make it possible for companies to develop the strategies they need to address these and other challenges, and to work more closely with suppliers by sharing information with them in real time.”