With the coronavirus pandemic and its lingering effects, companies have now experienced how challenging it can be to plan and maneuver their supply chains around uniquely disruptive, once-in-a-lifetime events. But the unfortunate truth is that less severe events overwhelm or undermine supply planning all the time. Legacy tools are no longer up to the task of getting supply where it is needed most.

Ever since access to ubiquitous real-time data emerged as a technological reality, businesses have been lured by the possibility of redirecting their supply chains toward a model driven by demand. Applying analytics software to make sense of big data could allow organizations to close the gap between demand and supply.

In an age of instant gratification, meeting immediate market demand is key to retaining competitive advantage.