Supply chain analytics isn't just about data and numbers, says Rich Diaz, chief executive officer and president of Catena Solutions. Humans play an integral role in ensuring that it drives decision-making.

Supply chains over the past two years have been “abnormal at best,” says Diaz. The COVID-19 pandemic shined a spotlight on the industry, while highlighting the need for sophisticated analytics and improvements in data. 

There’s plenty of data available to supply chain managers today, but it’s of little use without the modern-day analytics tools needed to make sense of it. Customers demand to know when their purchases are going to be delivered, down to the day and even hour, and “without analytics, it’s hard to make that prediction,” Diaz says.

That said, analytics tools aren’t a “magic bullet” for solving supply chain problems. Often overlooked, says Diaz, is the people who are needed to make the ultimate decisions. Humans and technology must work together to justify the investment in new systems.

For companies just getting started with supply chain analytics, the first question to ask is “What are you looking to gather from this data,” Diaz says. Having made that essential determination, they then need to create a dashboard that makes information “consumable all the way from the dock to the board room.”

For Diaz, the most exciting thing about supply chain analytics today is how it’s impacting the profession. “Things aren’t going to go back to normal,” he says. “Disruption created the opportunity to reimagine the way we move product, and enhance operations.”

The supply chain discipline flew “under the radar” for many years, he adds. Now it’s been thrust into the spotlight, and “it’s amazing to see [supply chain professionals] finally get the recognition they deserve.”