If you don't have a complete view to your global supply chain data, you hamstring your profitability, says Hannah Testani, chief executive officer of Intelligent Audit.

Lacking a completely global view of your data makes it hard to make macro decisions that truly help your organization, Testani advises. “How is it possible for you to actually make a transformative change and understand your supply chain if you don't have a global view?”

Disruptions of whatever sort are here to stay, she says. “So when they happen, you have to understand how that affects your supply chain today. If you have a data-based approach, and you look at the whole picture holistically, then you can make truly transformative changes. Anything otherwise is just too small. You're not going to have enough impact.”

Data fuels smart decisions, Testani says. You don’t ship a $3 item in a $10 box. “You will never make your profitability off that box,” she says. Similarly, if you don't know your landed cost end to end, you can’t figure out what you're doing is right. “And if you don't know how to measure what your cost is today, there's no way to become better. That's why data is so important.”

Begin saving money within your own organization, Testani says. “I can guarantee you there is a lot of money to be saved by beginning with what you are doing incorrectly in house. So optimize your internal processes. In almost every situation where we talk to a customer, those opportunities exist — whether it's using incorrect packaging, incorrect services, incorrect carriers, or modes using too many carriers for one lane. So figure out your data and then use that to make the smartest, most informed decisions to transform your supply chain and be more efficient.”