The Big Supply Chain Analytics Failure

November 3, 2021
3:04 pm

New forms of analytics abound. Embracing them is a different story. Data abounds while insights are low. Supply chain leaders struggle with the adoption and use of new forms of analytics. Only one in two are satisfied with their success in using analytics. Here we postulate why based on recent research.

Reason #1. Knowledge

While organizations hired data scientists in the past decade, business leaders struggle to speak the language of new forms of analytics. Terms like ontology, sentiment analysis, python and nosql are unknown to 80% of business leaders. Companies lock their data into traditional relational database structures and limit their possibilities to use disparate data or understand semantics.

What to do? Spend time educating teams based on lunch and learn and open sharing between technologists and operating groups. Do not make the mistake of asking traditional consultants and technologists for insights. (They want to sell you yesterday’s solutions.) Elevate the discussions.

Reason #2. Lack of a Good Framework for Process Innovation

Companies are investing in traditional applications like supply chain planning, but the focus is usually on improving the “engines” or optimization on top of existing systems. Few are questioning the fact that the workflows and architectures are largely outdated.

While companies speak of digital transformation most are working on the digitization of existing processes. The focus is faster and hands free. Companies struggle to rethink the use of technology based on the Art of the Possible to drive process innovation

What to do? Change the dialogue. Don’t focus on making current practices faster. Push for process innovation.

Reason #3. Lack of Awareness of the Need to Unlearn

Change management is fraught with issues. Few feel that they do it well. One of the unspoken challenges is the need to unlearn or ask participants to free themselves from conventional thinking to rethink the possibilities.

What to do? Focus on helping your group to ask the right questions. Start with a focus on supply chain failure. Ask the group to brainstorm on the data available in the organization that can inform and drive new outcomes. Explore the possibilities of unstructured and streaming data.

Grading Academia in Preparing Supply Chain Leaders

November 4, 2026 1:47 pm

Education is the lifeline for supply chain talent, but is it working? Are we doing a good job of training the next generation of supply

AI Defining a Middle Ground Between Custom and Packaged Applications in Supply Chain Planning

October 26, 2026 4:54 pm

Supply chain planning has evolved technologically, but its underlying processes remain rooted in historic practices that no longer fit today’s volatile, complex environment. Packaged applications promise faster, lower-cost, lower-risk business outcomes, yet extensive customization, fragmented data, and rigid workflows often undermine that promise. Cloud data and AI platforms like Databricks and Snowflake offer an alternative: build interoperable applications on top of existing planning systems to address gaps in direct procurement, plan consumption, bullwhip reduction, operational planning, and dynamic master data. The opportunity is not simply to automate existing processes with AI and agentics, but to redefine how work gets done through end-to-end orchestration, value-based trade-offs, and clear decision governance.

Reflection and Celebration for the Supply Chains to Admire Methodology

October 19, 2026 12:00 am

The Supply Chains to Admire to is an objective, data-driven standard for measuring supply chain excellence and moves beyond industry reputation, anecdotal evidence, and technology claims. Using revenue growth, operating margin, inventory turns, and return on invested capital (ROCE, the research evaluates how companies perform relative to industry peers over time. Here Lora shares information on an upcoming event to celebrate the Supply Chains to Admire Award Winners.

Five Things I Don’t Understand

October 13, 2026 6:25 pm

Solutions that we never imagined years ago are emergining, but I pause when companies are unwilling or unable to roll up their sleeves and redefine work. Historic practices are not best practices, and there is a wealth of opportunity for those that do challenge the existing status quo. .

My Answer to Joe. The Future of APS

October 1, 2026 12:47 am

Traditional Advanced Planning Systems (APS) are unlikely to become true enterprise platforms because organizations remain functionally siloed, metrics are misaligned, and current APS architectures were designed for an environment that has fundamentally changed. Here I share how I think that APS systems can adapt to drive more value.

Teaching Your Organization to Jump

September 25, 2026 11:18 pm

Remember the story of the frog in the pot of water? If the water temperature rises slowly, the frog doesn’t recognize the danger until it is too late. Put the frog directly into boiling water, and it jumps.

I think the analogy applies to today’s supply chains.

Companies are absorbing increasing volatility and complexity without fundamentally redefining how work gets done. Companies have confused historic practices with best practices. They are now taking those same processes and attempting to automate them with agents and agentic AI—without first stopping to ask a more fundamental question: Is it time to jump? Here I give a five-step action plan.

Supply Chain Shaman