E2open : Supply Chain Visibility: When Your “Future” Thinking Becomes Today’s Best Practice, It Feels Good

When Gartner recently released its updated research on supply chain visibility, we at E2open were truly gratified. These latest findings further reinforce the value of our work over the past 15 years: helping leading companies to establish the integrated planning, process and network needed to achieve end-to-end visibility in their global supply chain, so they can better manage demand they can't predict with supply they don't control.  These capabilities enable the core competency E2open deeply believes in: collaborative planning & execution. 

The report, Evolving Concepts in Supply Chain Visibility (available on our site), augments Gartner's definition of end-to-end supply chain visibility, which it refers to as E2ESCV. Gartner - which interviews supply chain professionals for its research - notes that E2ESCV is not only about collecting events and data, but also, getting "insight into plans, with the main purpose to support supply chain processes." Gartner's new definition of E2ESCV is as follows:

E2ESCV is a capability that provides controlled access and transparency to accurate, timely and complete plans, events and data - transactions, content and relevant supply chain information - within and across organizations and services to support effective planning and execution of supply chain operations.             

So, what this means is that "visibility" in the supply chain should no longer be defined as a billboard-style static, read-only view of information that's not up to the moment; it's about having access to real-time or near-real-time actionable data. That's the goal: to stop relying on yesterday's news and instead use current insights from both structured and unstructured data in the supply chain to commit with confidence.

Also note the emphasis on sales and operation planning (S&OP) in Gartner's definition. That's something else we were delighted to see because it aligns with our own view on the importance of S&OP effectiveness, and our focus on helping companies to get their whole organization on the same page with the S&OP process.

Connecting the layers - and building the value

Gartner is also now dialing into the idea of the information hub - a concept that is very closely aligned with our E2open Business Network, which helps companies maximize supply chain visibility and collaboration. In short, Gartner's research recommends that companies extend their visibility capabilities upstream and downstream to allow business partners to connect and exchange information more effectively. To truly achieve E2ESCV in their supply chain, companies must have this collaborative platform, or information hub in place - all the layers of connectivity, interoperability, and visibility must be built from the ground up.

The information hub recommended in Gartner's research (shown below) is nearly identical to what E2open has been helping companies to build for years - not just a technology stack, but importantly the value that's built on top of it. No silos, no false assumptions - just a single version of the truth. This insight is what enables companies to manage change - good and bad - in their supply chain so they not only can manage disruptions and other risks, but also optimize their processes and seize new opportunities.

This vision for E2RSCV has been proven time and again in the real world in the work E2open has executed with our clients. So, what makes us feel especially good about Gartner's latest research is that our forward-thinking approach to supply chain visibility - already in practice in many global supply chains - is now truly being held up as best practice.