Gain Supply Chain Visibility with Multitier Mapping to Boost Resilience

According to Gartner, “Large companies often have thousands of direct material suppliers which makes gathering specific supplier data a complex task. As a result, less than 5% of supply chain leaders report having strong visibility into their contract manufacturers Tier 2 and beyond, but mapping of Tier 1 and subtier suppliers is an important foundation for subsequent resilience activities.

Supply chain visibility is defined as having a holistic n-tier understanding of an organization’s supplier ecosystems based on real-time data that includes upstream, downstream, and circular product and services exchanges.

Despite major disruptions, progress mapping multitier supply chains has been slow. Complexities in supply chains, lack of technology utilization and trust with suppliers are a few reasons.”

In the Gartner report Gain Supply Chain Visibility with Multitier Mapping to Boost Resilience, analysts provide steps for chief procurement officers to address supply chain visibility through multitier mapping to:

• Establish a clear vision of why subtier visibility is important, the data that needs to be collected and how this will be used to create insights as part of a wider cross-function program to manage risk and enhance visibility to drive resilience-enhancing activities.
• Take a targeted, step-by-step and thoughtful approach to supply chain mapping to ensure that both internal stakeholders, such as commodity managers, and suppliers actively support it. Start with what you know and what you should know (the process).
• Invest in technologies to manage mapping data and enable an effective subtier visibility initiative that balances ease of use and implementation and capabilities, while resisting some vendor claims that their solutions can gather all the data required on an automated and stand-alone basis.

For complimentary access to this Gartner research courtesy of Exiger, complete the form. Exiger is mentioned in the report as a representative vendor for supply chain risk management technology.

Gartner, Gain Supply Chain Visibility With Multitier Mapping to Boost Resilience, 28 February 2023, Koray Kose, Cian Curtin

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