Global supply chains are intricate networks that depend on the seamless integration of data from myriad sources to ensure a holistic operational view. UnitySCM understands the necessity of centralizing, synchronizing, normalizing, and contextualizing data related to information flows, product flows, and financial flows. This comprehensive integration helps businesses stay ahead by being proactive and responsive to the rapid changes typical in supply chain environments, particularly in managing risks associated with fast-moving product flows from the source to the sale.
Poor data quality can severely hamper a company’s ability to make informed decisions, leading to increased operational risks and inefficiencies. UnitySCM has identified major repercussions of inadequate data quality, such as decision-making delays, increased costs due to inefficiencies, and heightened employee stress due to constant firefighting. These challenges often compel teams to revert to intuition rather than data-driven strategies, perpetuating outdated practices and potentially leading to significant financial losses.
Modern supply chains involve multiple stakeholders, each with varying levels of technological sophistication and different systems, making data integration challenging. UnitySCM tackles this by creating a unified system that allows all relevant data—whether from a high-tech warehouse management system or a simple spreadsheet on a supplier’s computer—to be efficiently centralized and synchronized. This not only enhances visibility but also ensures that all stakeholders have timely and accurate information to make crucial decisions.
Unity’s Data Versatility platform adopts several critical capabilities allowing customers to leverage high-quality data. This includes:
UnitySCM employs an extremely flexible approach to data sourcing, enabling the extraction and integration of data from sources of varying technological maturity. Whether it's through APIs, SFTP, manual uploads, or even email attachments, Unity ensures that all data, regardless of its original format, is accurately captured and integrated into the system.
All data sent to UnitySCM's platform is actively tracked. The system reconciles the data sent with the data loaded, promptly identifying and surfacing any discrepancies or errors for quick resolution. This ensures that the data used in decision-making is always accurate and up-to-date.
UnitySCM’s platform features a highly configurable data model that can effectively accommodate complex logic required to associate disparate data sources or types. This includes linking customer and supplier data with order data, connecting order data with shipment information, and associating shipment data with specific carriers and terminals. This flexibility is crucial for addressing the unique quirks and rules common to supply chain operations.
To maintain and improve data quality, UnitySCM implements rigorous processes for validating and cleaning data. This includes validating raw carrier milestones in the context of each shipment, consolidating similar milestones, filtering out erroneous data, and translating inconsistent carrier milestone descriptions into a consistent and unified language used across the platform.
Achieving data quality excellence is a continuous journey.
UnitySCM ensures the rigorous tracking of data quality through five key performance indicators listed below. These KPIs enable UnitySCM to provide reliable and high-quality data, fostering trust and enabling better decision-making for supply chain stakeholders.
Additionally, UnitySCM has established robust mechanisms for measuring the success of its data quality initiatives, including comprehensive data dashboards that track milestone completeness, latency, ETA accuracy, and the quality of detention and demurrage data.
These tools enable Unity and its customers to measure data quality, identify quality gaps, and work collaboratively to drive continuous improvements.
In the fast-evolving world of supply chain management, data quality is not merely a technical requirement but a strategic asset that significantly influences the operational success and competitive edge of businesses. UnitySCM’s dedication to enhancing data quality through innovative solutions and proactive strategies demonstrates its understanding of data's critical role in optimizing supply chain operations. This commitment ensures that UnitySCM’s clients are equipped to meet their operational challenges effectively, making informed decisions that lead to sustained business success.
