The Impact of Big Data on Supply Chain

You receive a notification on your phone that a critical shipment from your China factory has missed its filing deadline with the customs broker. Your logistics manager is alerted that there is an 80% chance that the components he's waiting for are likely to be delayed another 48 hours by excessive port traffic and your GTM software advises diverting the shipment to an alternate port facility. Your compliance officer is informed that there is a 95% chance that a shipment of parts from Malaysia is likely to be held for up to three days to be subjected to a detailed customs inspection. If you think this type of information would be of great assistance to your supply chain business planning and operations, you are not alone. It is this type of integrated data and communications that are becoming the backbone of the Big Data led revolution underway in supply chain. The human brain can only process and make use of a limited amount of information before it becomes overwhelmed and unable to effectively recognise patterns and trends.