The importance of supply chain visibility

Decision-makers in global supply chains face an ever-growing disconnect. Despite investing in new technology, ROI is slow to arrive. The ability to coordinate fast and effective responses to disruptions and opportunities along the supply chain lags way behind expectations.

 

In almost all cases, data is the problem, specifically the lack of a single, real-time connected view of end-to-end supply chain visibility. The critical information needed to synchronise action is fragmented across teams, systems, and partner companies. This lack of clarity inhibits speed-to-decision when teams need to respond in near-real-time to an event such as a supplier failure, port blockage, or sudden jump in demand for a product.

 

The disconnect between significant technology investment and optimised results is frustrating and undermines overall confidence. A new approach is required, which is much faster to implement than conventional systems and is far quicker to deliver genuine ROI. Closing that gap starts with treating data as an operational layer, not a by-product of systems.

 

 

The data gateway – the door to agility and faster ROI

The data gateway concept unifies all the critical data and gives supply chain organisations a fully connected view of operations. It works alongside existing systems and does not replace them, enabling effective adoption of innovations such as AI-driven decision intelligence.

 

With a single view of relevant and up-to-minute data on supplier performance, inventory, demand and logistics, managers can make decisions about complex supply chain readjustments much faster and with greater confidence, supporting service levels and margins. When businesses can predict disruptions with agentic AI and turn that foresight into actionable insights, when disruption hits, that speed and accuracy become a genuine competitive advantage, which is reflected in the bottom line.

 

The issue is that many businesses struggle to use data to accurately assess risk in their supply chains. McKinsey’s 2025 survey of global supply chain leaders found that only 42 per cent of businesses have a view of risks down to tier 2 suppliers. If a supplier has a wildcat strike or some other crisis, it will remain out of sight, inflicting damage before it is detected.

 

That is where gaps in visibility turn into cost. When data is not unified and current, disruption travels faster than the organisation’s ability to respond.

 

Clarity, accuracy, and speed are vital when unexpected interruptions occur. In 2024, for example, the sudden closure of the Port of Baltimore in the US after a ship hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge had a very significant impact on supply chains. More recently, incidents around other strategic shipping corridors have served as a reminder of how quickly logistics risk can intensify, pushing up costs and adding complexity for businesses operating across global supply chains.

 

 

Why fragmentation persists at scale

A more innovative strategy for data is key because supply chains need to analyse and harmonise thousands of data sources quickly to deliver fully optimised outcomes and improve agility.

 

A single major organisation may have as many as 30 different ERP systems that generate multiple versions of data about a single SKU, all of which need to be harmonised and normalised. Many global supply chains also need to integrate streaming information from live market intelligence or news feeds.

 

A cloud-based, low-code approach, the data gateway cleans and harmonises this mass of highly diverse data, delivering the right data to the right users and their applications at the right time. In simple terms, it moves processing closer to the source.

 

That approach is faster and easier to implement than conventional approaches, returning investment more rapidly. It also enables real decision-making agility and improved performance in weeks, rather than months or years.

 

Once in place, managers have the critical near-real-time data to provide the insights and decision confidence of their entire supply chain they need to identify potential disruptions from costly bottlenecks and achieve practical workarounds.

 

 

The route to an AI-ready supply chain

By providing high-quality data, this gateway approach makes AI and machine learning (ML) simpler to deploy, addressing a recurring theme in many supply chains – the disappointing performance of these technologies. Only five per cent of respondents in McKinsey’s 2025 State of AI survey, for example, reported revenue increases of more than 10 per cent from their AI investments in supply chain and inventory management.

 

With access to a reliable, single source of truth, AI technologies become fully effective at the heart of the supply chain. Predictive real-time insights alert teams to problems before they blow up into crises. Managers can make faster, coordinated decisions, rerouting shipments, or adjusting production – whatever is required. Prescriptive analytics take this further by providing decision intelligence that guides supply chain managers towards decisions that have the highest chance of success.

 

 

Accelerating decision-making and time-to-value

The data gateway is the innovative approach to supply chain data that organisations need to accelerate time-to-value from their supply chain technology investments in 2026 and beyond. Any business with an extensive supply chain needs greater end-to-end visibility and a single source of truth to provide real-time, trusted decisions more effectively, and with greater confidence at critical moments. And, to be ready for the transformative capabilities of AI, the data gateway is near-essential.

 

The risk of persisting with legacy approaches will be reflected in slower decisions and poor ROI. But with a supply chain data gateway, organisations are more likely to make the right call under pressure and achieve positive impact, turning potential setbacks into revenue-boosting opportunities.

 

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Mark Holmes is Global Head of Supply Chain Market Strategy at InterSystems

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and jittawit.21