How can short-range forecasts be developed to respond more quickly to market
changes? How can the performance of a company?s top five suppliers be
monitored? What will it cost to shift to a new supplier in a particular product
line? To get at this information, managers and analysts often have to spend
days, or even weeks, cobbling together aging or obsolete information on spreadsheets.
Measuring forecast accuracy and supplier performance is still a hit-or-miss
proposition. Supply chains are becoming increasingly complex, growing from linear
arrangements to synchronized, multi-echelon, outward-facing networks of distributed
servers.
Most companies lack the tools that can quickly sift through and present data
coming in from supply chain partners and systems. Gartner Group (Stamford, CT),
a leading IT consultancy, estimates that less than 1% of companies today are
capable of monitoring and measuring online supplier performance. A study conducted
by the University of Texas for Dell Computer Corp. found that only 11% of the
1,000 companies studied have some form of online transactional and information-sharing
capabilities with their suppliers.