The other day I had a long talk with an industry research group who wanted to know what visibility means in Retail technology. All too often we see a banner or a product heading which proclaims a tool provides "visibility", but do they really? Do you want visibility into the event, the process or both? Should it be exception-based? The grail for business managers throughout Retail and other verticals is 'true' supply chain visibility. I have to ask: what is "visibility"? I have yet to find a definition which works for all scenarios.
One common definition I seem to continually hit on when Googling: 'Good supply-chain visibility means a supply-chain manager can identify purchased materials as they move through suppliers' production flow and transportation networks to the company's receiving docks. By the same token, the company must have the same visibility into outbound goods as they are manufactured, assembled, stored in inventory, and shipped through the transportation network to customers' receiving docks.'
This definition doesn't allow for drill-down... drill-down to errors found in EDI documents (Mapping or otherwise), nor does it provide for exception based or other types of reporting. How granular should visibility be? Should we be able to manage by exception - yes! How about drill-down to missing items in an order or pinpoint contradicting ASN/INV quantities and other errors - yes (Twice)! Having a macro view of your supply chain is great, but knowing (Or thinking) there is a problem is not the same as locating it. Once located it can be fixed - but until then...?
Your son or daughter went to class, studied, did all the homework and expected a 4.0. Instead they received a 3.4. Macro doesn't tell you where the failure took place. A mid-term report card would have helped 'zoom' in and make much needed improvements prior to receiving the report card. Scanning down the mid-term report card would have told you where extra effort needed to be spent. Your supply chain is no different.
Put your EDI to work for YOU.