Supply chain analytics has rapidly developed in the last few years, supported by progress in technology and computing power. We can also attribute this evolution to increasing supply chain complexities, and challenges companies are increasingly running into. SAPinsiders have consistently highlighted their increased focus on leveraging analytics and automation in the supply chain in our research, like the most recent research, Supply Chain Planning in The Cloud, and in our conversations with them, leading to “Supply Chain Analytics and Data Management” being the theme of our upcoming December 2022 research report. However, building robust supply chain analytics capabilities is a journey. Organizations need to develop a roadmap to attain supply chain analytics expertise, which needs to happen in various stages. I think a typical journey towards attaining supply chain analytics competency maturity should comprise five stages that we will discuss below.

The Supply Chain Analytics Maturity Pyramid

At a high level, there are four stages that an organization needs to take to reach the pinnacle of Supply Chain analytics maturity (fifth stage). This phased approach also allows organizations to build a foundation for subsequent stages. They show these stages in figure 1. Figure 1: Stages of supply chain analytics maturity We often jump into analytics to find "value" with whatever datasets we find. This is not a desirable approach because the analysis output will be dicey if you have not developed your data quality and integrity (Stage 1). Will you bet your career and millions of dollars of your organization on results that were generated using questionable data? All modeling and analytics are susceptible to GIGO (Garbage in Garbage out) principle. Without ensuring that your input data going into a model or analytics exercise is excellent, you are just looking at the output, giving you a picture that may be skewed from reality/feasibility.

Analytics maturity Infographics

The infographics below will explore each stage regarding people, processes, and technology. These graphics are not comprehensive but still provide key insights into the competencies you need to develop in each stage's three key areas (people, processes, and technology). Follow the stages in a phased manner to build strong and true competency. Stage 1: The most critical and foundational stage   Stage 2: Start becoming a data-driven enterprise Stage 3: Start extracting insights from the data Stage 4: Start predicting and prescribing Stage 5: The "Self-running" Supply Chain