Greg Brady discusses how new technology can create common platform for planning, execution and visibility across foreign and domestic inbound and outbound logistics operations that can give you a competitive edge. [Logistics Viewpoints]

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To begin with, it is impossible for a company to gain a true picture of supply and demand across three separate parts of the logistics environment (international, inbound domestic, and outbound domestic). The process of gathering and interpreting data takes valuable time and affords no window of opportunity for procurement or manufacturing to resolve issues as they arise. Users are required to piece together a complex puzzle to understand all the different legs of the shipments and to identify where their shipment currently resides. Without this information, procurement and manufacturing are at the mercy of logistics to figure out where their inventory is located when issues arise. This means that by the time the shipment is located, it is too late to perform any action to resolve the issue. Technology solutions were limited in the past and often forced companies to select three different solutions. However, with the advent of cloud computing and multi-party solutions, technology solutions can now provide an integrated picture across international, inbound, and outbound logistics.

Furthermore, demand is constantly changing across a supply chain.

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I would like to challenge all supply chain executives to investigate integrating domestic inbound and outbound logistics operations as well as their international operations. It’s a viable solution today given the advancements in technology like Cloud Computing and Multi-Enterprise architectures.

Here are a few suggestions on how to get started today….

Read more: Create a Truly Integrated Logistics Operation