For decades, CEOs have given supply chain chiefs marching orders that typically sound something like this: We want it cheaper, faster, better.
Many consequences and trends have resulted from this mantra. For instance, companies are now more likely to use less-expensive and standardized packaged applications, rather than in-house software. And companies big and small now source goods from lower-cost and speedier manufacturing partners in China.
A new IBM study, however, points to one disastrous and unintended consequence of the "cheaper, faster, better" mindset: a "data visibility" crisis in enterprises' supply chains.
Nearly three-quarters of the respondents say their number-one challenge is "overwhelming and fragmented data," as well as a "lack of ability to make sense out of the information."
Source: CIO