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customers want, to avoid costly inefficiencies such as stockouts or wrong-time, wrong-place misallocation of in-demand inventory.
Common concerns about data sharing
Despite these obvious advantages of sharing upstream and downstream data, companies throughout a supply chain have many concerns that prevent the building of trust. These range from the potential for loss of intellectual property, to the fear that competitors will get hold of data and use it to their own advantage.
Data security is also a worry for many organizations. Other businesses can see that a lack of standardization in data formats and interfaces has the potential to make sharing difficult, troublesome, time-consuming, or costly. Small and medium-sized businesses especially may feel they do not have the right in-house expertise, fearing the benefits are outweighed by the costs.
Within larger organizations, a siloed structure also makes data sharing complex, particularly if the data is owned by separate departments and in varied formats.
Barriers to supply chain trust
These barriers to greater data sharing are far from insurmountable. However, companies that fully understand the benefits and want to implement data integration along their supply chains can win over their partners with a clear value proposition. This needs to be based on the establishment of transparent data governance frameworks and engagement of data management partners possessing the technology and experience that generates trust and confidence.
Data governance must be transparent to demonstrate who owns and is responsible for the data and security at each stage of the supply chain. Visualizations should make the flow of data clear across the supply chain and explain how partners use technology to
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