Finally. After ten years of hype surrounding Supply Chain Visibility (SCV), I am seeing mainstream adoption. Sure, many 'earlier adopter' companies took the plunge during the go-go days of 1999/2000, then the market flat-lined post-bubble. Nobody had investment dollars to spend on projects numbered 2, 3 and 4. The big enterprise app companies were doing a good job soaking up the cash and attention of most IT teams.
Roll forward eight years and the market is ramping up based on two key trends:
- the shift to Direct Procurement models of global sourcing; and,
- the increased accountability of importers with regulations such as the Importer Security Filing (ISF), affectionately known as Customs 10+2.
Fundamentally, the advance of low cost sourcing strategies is challenging the old forwarder/spreadsheet business process that many Importers have employed. Importers must extend business processes, collaborate with trading partners, and control the flow.