Visibility helps to transforms the supply chain from a series of isolated steps into connected, transparent processes that help organizations respond quickly to operational challenges and market opportunities.

At a time when supply chains are global and markets are volatile, being able to see and respond to change isn’t just a competitive advantage; it’s a must-have for survival and growth. Trend-spotters are winning the supply chain management game with next generation cloud-based supply chain solutions, while companies throttled by disconnected legacy systems and analytics applications are falling behind quickly.

Without real-time data on inventory levels and supplier capabilities, for example, identifying potential gaps, adjusting sourcing strategies, and tweaking production plans is nothing more than a guessing game. And as we all witnessed during the pandemic, that guessing game can turn into a liability quickly when outside forces take over the supply chain.

Rewind the clock a bit and its clear why supply chains fell prey to the pandemic-driven disruptions. Most business models relied on local production until globalization took hold and organizations started thinking and acting “leaner” when it came to inventory. Concurrently, the patchwork of legacy software systems that most companies relied on became increasingly disconnected and disparate.

Getting Global Supply Chains Back on Track

When the pandemic turned supply chains on end, companies scrambled to reshore and gain better control over these vital networks. It wasn’t enough to just be lean; organizations also had to be resilient. The pendulum swung in the opposite direction as inventories were fattened up and more attention was paid to being able to fulfill orders (versus just keeping inventory costs minimized).

And so, the race was on to improve end-to-end supply chain visibility. However, for most organizations that end goal was out of reach. One of the root problems? Legacy systems that were put in place to support lean supply chains but lacked the flexibility to offer insights for changing demands and requirements due to increased complexity and shifts in global supply chains. These solutions are now ripe for modernization in a world where customers not only expect their orders fast, but they also want to track those orders every step of the way.

PartnerLinQ not only helps companies solve these fundamental problems, but we also help them achieve the visibility goals that were previously out of reach. It starts with a unified data repository that is harmonized for the specific enterprise, and that connects all the systems the company has in place — including those aging, legacy systems that would otherwise create drag in a business environment that demands agile and flexible supply chains.

Companies also need to know that their data is secure, safe, and kept confidential. They don’t want their data residing in a “public” system that’s shared with others. With PartnerLinQ, companies know that their data resides on a private platform and that it’s never treated as public data. This is an important consideration in a world where new cybersecurity threats emerge daily.

An Elastic, Cloud-Native Solution

Because PartnerLinQ is elastic and cloud-native, the infrastructure behind it is both resilient and reliable. It can scale to any level in performance and manage all types of data. That data is both connected and harmonized in a way that ensures near-real-time visibility for business users who need analytics, reports, and dashboards that support good decision-making.

We recently worked with a large transportation company that has about 20,000 trucks along with data scattered across numerous data lakes and stores. Getting reports and analytics for efficient decision-making was nearly impossible — and by the time data was made available, it was too late to do anything meaningful with it. After implementing PartnerLinQ’s platform, the company was able to consolidate and harmonize these data sources with a robust canonical data model. As a result, PartnerLinQ improved the company’s access to critical information for making better decisions with improved reporting and dashboards to enhance its overall supply chain visibility.

This is just one example of how PartnerLinQ’s cloud-based platform helps organizations improve the visibility and efficiency of their supply chains. All these improvements translate into top-line cost savings, better asset utilization, and improved bottom lines. By acting as a conduit between different systems and partners in the supply chain, PartnerLinQ creates a seamless information flow and a clear, reliable snapshot of activity that fosters faster reaction times across these vital networks.

Jawad Khan, CEO & Founder, PartnerLinQ Inc.

Jawad Khan is the founder and CEO of PartnerLinQ. As the innovative force behind PartnerLinQ, Jawad guides the company in reshaping digital connectivity and collaborative intelligence within the extensive supply chain sector. His leadership philosophy is deeply rooted in ensuring that supply chains are not merely reactive but strategically positioned to respond to perpetual shifts in business demands swiftly and efficiently.

Highly configurable technology platforms help companies achieve their visibility goals, collaborate with business partners, and eliminate manual work.  

Most legacy supply chain management platforms currently in place were installed decades ago. These monolithic systems served their purpose, but they haven’t kept up with the demands of the modern supply chain. They’re not configurable, they can’t integrate with third-party applications, and they require a lot of manual intervention. 

The challenges of using legacy systems don’t end there. Updating these platforms with the latest “bells and whistles” is expensive and, in many cases, not even possible. These solutions were built to do everything, which unfortunately means they don’t do any one thing very well.  

As the name suggests, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems may be good financial and operational management tools across a compant, but they weren’t designed to manage the increased complexities of modern global supply chains. That didn’t stop ERP platform solution providers from adding a range of capabilities or otherwise acquiring other solution sets — from transportation management systems (TMS) to warehouse management systems (WMS) to order management systems (OMS) — to their software suites.  

Customers, wanting all-in-one systems, often adopted those functionalities as they were introduced, never evaluating, or considering other options by assuming simplicity with one platform. However, this approach too often results in rigid IT infrastructures for which changing one requirement requires adjusting everything else, too.  

Breaking Down Supply Chain Visibility Barriers 

While cloud ERP systems in the last couple of years have increased, on-premises solutions are still dominant within many organizations. On-premise legacy systems also weren’t designed for external collaboration — something every company needs but not all have. Where a TMS may have been built to connect with external carriers and transportation providers, on-premise WMS was designed to manage what was happening within the four walls of the warehouse.  

The notion of external business partners being able to “see” one another’s inventory positions, and then use the data to help get customer orders delivered within two or three days, wasn’t available when most ERPs were being developed. This is just one visibility gap companies today deal with daily.  

The good news is that organizations can close these gaps and future-proof their supply chains with a highly configurable technology platform. PartnerLinQ helps companies establish a common data foundation incorporating a semantic layer for every industry (including specific products, hierarchies, and transportation routes).  

Once that foundation is established, we build out the platform with the customer’s unique needs in mind, using the technology already in place and the outside applications needed to get everyone working from the same playbook. By providing that critical connectivity layer, PartnerLinQ helps companies break through the barriers of their monolithic business systems and leverage the power of modern, advanced technology.  

Connectivity barriers don’t exist only within your four walls. For that reason, PartnerLinQ creates strong connections with all third parties you need to communicate and share data with, including your business partners, customers, and software applications. The ability to integrate with these entities is a critical step to gaining full end-to-end supply chain visibility and collaboration.  

Adaptable, Flexible Architecture

PartnerLinQ offers the architecture, tools, and data companies need to connect with all internal and external stakeholders. We also offer a no-code/low-code environment that vastly speeds up implementation times and lets each person within the supply chain configure, maintain, and optimize the connections on their own.  

As a cloud-native application, PartnerLinQ’s platform is vertically and horizontally scalable right out of the gate. The same can’t be said for many other supply chain integration platforms on the market today. With PartnerLinQ, you can scale from hundreds to millions of transactions per month without having to make changes to your system.  

A Supply Chain that Stands the Test of Time 

In this rapidly evolving business landscape, the right digital strategy is no longer a luxury — it’s a must-have. Organizations that fall behind in this area risk losing customers, market share and revenue to competitors investing in their digital strategies.  

Being tied to a monolithic software platform can impede your supply chain visibility, partner collaboration, and long-term growth prospects. With PartnerLinQ in your corner, you can get all your data into one, accessible place. You can adjust on the fly as your company grows. And you can develop a future-proof supply chain that withstands the test of time. 

To learn more about how PartnerLinQ can help you future-proof your B2B enterprise, contact our team today.

Ahmed Samnan Raza, CTO & Co-founder

Ahmed Raza leads a dynamic team dedicated to shaping a robust, next-generation SaaS platform catering to customers across diverse industries. With his firm belief in driving continuous innovation, Ahmed’s team is on a mission team to ensure that PartnerLinQ platform remains at the forefront of business technology evolution. With a wealth of experience, Ahmed previously served as the Vice President of Product Engineering at Visionet Systems, Inc. His journey with the PartnerLinQ began at its inception, and over his 18-year career, Ahmed has played a pivotal role in a wide array of digital transformation projects spanning various segments of the supply chain industry. This includes impactful contributions to sectors such as retail, consumer goods, apparel/footwear, transportation, and food & beverage, among others.

Time is money in the fast-paced business-to-business (B2B) world. Each day a new B2B business partner isn’t onboarded and transacting with your company means one more day of lost sales and opportunities.  
Clunky, manual onboarding processes also keep new partners from tapping into the amazing new alliance they’ve formed. Instead, they watch from the sidelines as you jump through your onboarding hoops. 

“Fast partner connectivity is a predominant factor for growth in the B2B business landscape,” says Kerry Fogarty, SVP of Client Success at PartnerLinQ. “The faster you can get new partners up and running, the sooner you’ll be able to maximize the return on your partnership investment.” 

Why You Need a Frictionless Onboarding Process  

Complex, manual partner onboarding processes consume too many internal resources. They also delay time-to-market and force new B2B partners to “stand by” while you get your house in order. A smooth onboarding process, on the other hand, reduces administrative burden and lays the foundation for a strong, lasting partnership.  
By investing in tools that automate everything from data migration and training to user provisioning — all wrapped in a white glove service package — organizations can create a frictionless onboarding experience that benefits all parties.  
Consider these wins, achievable across the life of the partnership: 

• Improved efficiency.
• Faster time to market.
• Streamlined connectivity 
• Quicker communications
• Improved data exchange across partners.

Keeping the Data Flowing 

Because PartnerLinQ integrates directly with over 70 popular software applications like Microsoft, Dynamics, SAP, Salesforce, and Magento, all data can flow seamlessly across these platforms, giving companies a single, unified pool of data to work with.  
PartnerLinQ’s tailored service approach takes it one step further by managing communications across trading partners. “We provide a dedicated onboarding service agent who takes the burden off our customers’ in-house staff,” Fogarty explains. “By managing this on their behalf, we can target 100% of their training partners.” 

Throwing the Switches 

For a company that is replacing a legacy integration platform, PartnerLinQ manages the communication, scheduling, configuration, testing, and deployment for all existing and new trading partners.  

“We act on our customers’ behalf, letting their partners know about the platform switch and managing all of the related intricacies that go into it,” Fogarty says. “The day we go live, we throw switches and everything is up and running on our platform across the board. This significantly compresses the time-to-value.” 

Get Frictionless B2B Onboarding 

Streamlining integrations can have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line. Take this example: A transportation company spent about five years attempting to migrate 20% of its customer base to a new platform. What’s more, onboarding each new partner took more than 100 days apiece. 
By switching to PartnerLinQ, the company was able to speed up the integration considerably. It began onboarding anywhere from 50 to 100 trading partners twice a week in a multi-week cycle. The company can implement a new trading partner in five days or less. And it doubled the number of trading partners it works with because it’s no longer bogged down by manual, legacy processes. The company has gained significant market advantage and enjoys stronger business partnerships as a result. 

“As more companies take advantage of these types of seamless integrations, they can respond much more swiftly to market changes and shifting customer demands,” Fogarty says. “They can also keep up with and even get out in front of their competitors.” 

It’s Time To Build a Frictionless Journey 

A fast, seamless B2B partner onboarding experience helps organizations unlock the full potential of their partnerships right from the start. Isn’t it time you replaced your outdated onboarding methods with a frictionless journey that sets everyone up for success? 

To learn more about how PartnerLinQ can improve partner onboarding, reach out to our team today.

Kerry Fogarty, SVP, Client Success

Kerry Fogarty is a Senior IT executive with a proven track record in driving global IT initiatives and business value impact through technology adoption. With his extensive experience as a VP of Enterprise IT and the Office of the CIO in iconic brands like Liz Claiborne, Fifth and Pacific, Kate Spade, and Tapestry. Kerry brings a wealth of deep industry supply chain knowledge and expertise to the PartnerLinQ, Inc., leadership team. In his current role as SVP Client Success, he is dedicated to ensuring customer success through the deployment of PartnerLinQ, the industry’s premier supply-chain platform, complimenting it with toptier consulting and support services.

In recent years, organizations have faced a series of disruptions, impacting their operational continuity, resulting in lost sales, reduced revenues, and damage to brand reputation. This has heightened the importance for supply chain leaders to adeptly manage inherent risks by leveraging capabilities for accurate decision-making and utilizing data for improved planning.

The looming threats of shifting trade alliances, geopolitical conflicts, climate change effects on global logistics networks, and ongoing labor unrest weigh heavily on executive leaders’ minds. To tackle future uncertainties, logistics leaders are prioritizing resilient operations and flexible transportation solutions, aligning with diverse procurement strategies and meeting the demands of increasingly discerning customers.

According to IDC’s Global Supply Chain Survey 2023, business leaders, especially in transportation and logistics, prioritize improved visibility, agility, and increased collaboration. The impact of disruptions has prompted a notable focus on deploying advanced analytics to navigate changing conditions effectively.

Logistics service providers must also respond effectively to frequent and significant changes, while also balancing the push for resilient operations with the need to reduce and control costs. Economic conditions are driving concerns about higher and out-of-control costs, leading logistics teams to seek a competitive edge through efficiency gains.

Technological priorities for advancing supply chain digital maturity include artificial intelligence/machine learning, cloud platforms, and visibility platforms. Clean, timely visibility data is foundational for cultivating intelligence, enabling logistics providers to make informed, timely decisions and engage in scenario planning to drive optimal actions.

Continuous refinement of models to incorporate new data sources is also crucial for better business outcomes. Top priorities for logistics service providers include optimizing the supply chain to reduce costs and improving visibility across the end-to-end supply chain. Challenges such as generating efficiencies, facilitating better collaboration, and advancing sustainability drive the need for data-driven insights.

As organizations address inherent risks in global supply chains in 2024, the need for flexible transportation services with advanced intelligence becomes evermore crucial. Timely, informed, and consistent decision-making across complex logistics networks requires end-to-end visibility and collaboration. Logistics service providers play a critical role in achieving supply chain resilience, and platforms like PartnerLinQ enable them to deliver value, streamline operations, and contribute to long-term partnerships with customers. In a world where collaboration is essential, interconnected systems that provide insights from a single source of truth become highly valuable, paving the way for deeply integrated and resilient transportation operations aligned with customer supply chain strategies.

Learn more about PartnerLinQ and the ways of solving the supply chain challenges for both Transportation and Logistics Providers in our new IDC Spotlight Whitepaper.

Generative AI: The New Panacea

The Generative AI panacea is gaining momentum largely in part due to predecessor cure-alls such as GDSN, RFID and most recently blockchain.  Each over the course of their own hype-cycles insisting on magic bullet status, each contending that the days of linear, one-directional supply chains are behind us, each a new panacea denouncing the previous that somehow fell short. The more recent blockchain arguments have been so pervasive that swaths of humanity have been conditioned to believe supply chain traceability and supply chain traceability solutions based on blockchain will forever change humanity, end pollution, stop global warming, and eliminate mean tweets with believers and devotees evangelizing the blockchain argument far and wide. 

Arguments, quickly laid to rest by simply looking for the blockchain panacea that never arrived or by looking for that consumer who systematically checks the labels of his or her shirts to see exactly where the fibers that make up that shirt come from.  Perhaps we should look for that blockchain sales rep who, at this point, must be driving into the sunset of a spectacular career, perhaps if we look hard enough on the beaches of south Florida, we can find him, and he can help us to see the decades of successful blockchain enablement that we all somehow missed.  Maybe, we slept through the last decade and that blockchain sales rep is not to be found because we’re looking on a beach and not in the desert or a retirement home or maybe the blockchain panacea simply did not happen and maybe we are all looking at the beginning of just another panacea, the generative AI panacea. 

Supply chain traceability nonetheless remains elusive and soon enough the (Artificial Intelligence) arguments will replace all of the blockchain panacea arguments and all will know that the new panacea has arrived. Much like its blockchain predecessor, the Artificial Intelligence Panacea will solve or at least claim to solve all of our issues by providing a remedy for every difficulty including supply chain traceability.  It is entirely possible to imagine that many more activists than even the blockchain could muster will claim the Artificial Intelligence Panacea has arrived while touting the benefits of something they have not experienced in their lives, in their business, or on their phones. 

Even as this article is being compiled, publishing companies that promote crypto awareness – the big money promoters for blockchain investors have been putting forth articles all but debunking their own investigative journalism of days no longer present on blockchain technologies and have begun the inevitable shift to the Generative AI panacea.  One such article insists that AI models will grow massively in 2023 while simultaneously emphasizing the value of smaller, more precise models, which seems to take both sides of an argument.  It appears, even for the uninitiated the shift from blockchain to generative AI is occurring in real time. 

Retrieval-based traceability

If we are to make a business case that businesses must now adopt resilient, transparent, and perhaps circular value chains to stay competitive because of shifts in the landscape then we must also make the case that these organizations must lean on technology to do so which also means, by extension, bringing into view retrieval-based traceability.  Retrieval-based traceability infers a reliance on traceable resources and not on panacea.  Retrieval-based traceability infers incorporation of a localized knowledgebase and incorporation of all of the predecessor cure-all projects including efforts in GDSN, RFID, even Blockchain and AI; an approach that brings operational benefits and resolves the universal search for increased visibility. 

Organizations planning to adopt retrieval-based traceability must thereby rely on supply chain traceability solutions to manage the complexities of supply chain traceability, retrieval-based traceability makes these truths apparent: 

1. Traceability systems are powered by traceability data 
2. Traceability data is generated through execution of a variety of business processes carried out by each organization 
3. When we extend the view of traceability data generated through execution of a variety of business processes carried out by each organization to the full supply chain view, it becomes clear that each organization manages its own set of retrieval-based traceability data with supply chain traceability solutions 

If we concede Point 1 that supply chain traceability systems are powered by retrieval-based traceability data and do not rely solely on the latest tech fad, panacea including blockchains, GDSN, EPCIS, and RFID.  We must then concede that advanced supply chain traceability solutions , solutions that enable businesses to monitor their supply chains in real-time and ensure transparency to make data-driven decisions rely on Point 2; retrieval-based traceability data generated through execution of business processes and we can conclude the generative AI ONLY works when retrieval-based traceability data is present. In short, insights form in the presence of data. 

If we concede Points 1 and 2, then we must also concede that the scope of the retrieval-based traceability process in any industry model begins with the initial interaction between the trading parties which means neither generative AI nor blockchain technologies can help us.  The former being dependent on a collection of data and the latter being dependent on event processing according to experts, it’s no wonder that everyone over the past two decades flocked to the newest tech panacea available. 

Traceability systems are powered by traceability data

If Traceability systems are powered by traceability data, then supply chain traceability systems are powered by retrieval-based traceability data not generative AI and certainly not blockchains.  While both might prove valuable and block chains might prove invaluable for shared data storage, the scope of supply chain traceability models most certainly begin with the initial interaction between trading parties at the very beginning of the trade cycle.  

Companies seeking supply chain traceability for their customer base who have expressed interests in sustainability for example will not be easily satisfied by the promise of a panacea having previously invested in several.  Many will immediately recognize the hype cycle and having been through several will wait for things to pan out. The reality of supply chain traceability is that manufacturing entities generate retrieval-based traceability data through purposeful execution of integrated business processes.  When this view is extended throughout the supply chain it becomes apparent that each entity engaged in supply chain traceability manages its own set of retrieval-based traceability data. 

Initial Contact between the Parties

Manufacturing companies and their suppliers must engage in ‘initial contact’ steps in order to set up an initial business understanding before supply chain traceability can proceed. While initial contact processes may vary, the most efficient path to success is for manufacturing companies to contact all of their active suppliers at once.  Such plans must be carefully executed and extended by a team of experts in data collection and storage as one might find attached to supply chain traceability solutions.  The initial contact process must include precise transactional guidance to ensure that retrieval-based traceability elements are engaged throughout the process so they can be provided and referenced throughout the process that ensues.   

Building a Common Reference

Data alignment between manufacturing companies and their suppliers must include the exchange and storage of succinct item data (catalog) and organizational data through a business process that must include the regular exchange and storage of this data such that it is available for use in latter business processes including manufacturing, procurement, storage, and delivery. Engaging retrieval-based traceability elements such as GLNs and GTINs at the enterprise level and implementing GLNs and GTINs in Order-to-Cash transactions for example is a good way to start thinking about referenceable retrieval-based traceability elements that will be used later in the supply chain traceability solution.  While GLNs and GTINs may be considered by many to be the most efficient data keys; style, color, size and DUNS numbers work just as well in some industries; the point being the path to a systemic understanding of one’s supply chain is dependent on retrieval-based traceability data, which includes the unique identification of items and locations. 

Evaluating and Approving Goods for Procurement

Manufacturing Companies will then have to undertake an internal process for evaluating and approving goods for procurement based on retrieval-based traceability elements at the unique item level, which will extend to a lot and batch level and perhaps serialization in some manufacturing actives in order for supply chain traceability to proceed.  Evaluating and approving goods for procurement in order to be practical will take place in supply chain traceability solutions.  Evaluating and approving goods for procurement must include some measure of business process automation, succinct messaging, and precise transactional guidance to ensure that retrieval-based traceability elements are present and exchanged between manufacturing companies and their suppliers on an ongoing basis. Business process automation that allows for an approval process while linking batch and lots with internal catalog items for use in the manufacturing process such that they can be authorized for requisition and available to procure within the manufacturing entity. 

Price/Sales Catalog Business Messages

Manufacturing Companies must include Price/Sales Catalog messaging where trading partners begin the process of trade by exchanging basic business information related to the goods traded.  Price/Sales Catalog business message sent by the supplier to the buyer of the expected product line, includes trade item details such as unique item identification, product description, introduction, and discontinuation dates.  The key data and retrieval-based traceability elements in this exchange include unique item identification structured as data carriers such as a GTIN, UPC, or in the case for many Textiles & Apparel Manufacturing Companies; a combination of retrieval-based traceability elements, style, color, and size.   

Price/Sales Catalog messages are typically sent from a supplier’s system capable of supply chain traceability to a buyer’s system also capable of storing retrieval-based traceability elements consistent with supply chain traceability in order to provide the buyers with information regarding products and product lines and traceability elements.  Price/Sales Catalog messages are not considered as ‘one-time’ responses to a buyer’s request, rather Price/Sales Catalog messages should be considered as updates to the buyer’s internal catalog of supplier product information, ongoing and regular.  In terms of supply chain traceability Price/Sales Catalog messages may therefore be sent from the supplier to the buyer whenever the supplier’s product line changes.  The Buyer, by maintaining an internal catalog of a supplier’s products containing retrieval-based traceability therefore becomes more adept, knowledgeable, and better at identifying trade ready goods for the manufacturing process. 

Report of Test Results Business Message

The Report of Test Results business message supports supply chain traceability by supporting sellers, distributors, and testing services; the results may be required in support of consumer product safety or as part of a continuous improvement program or a product development process. The Report of Test Results business message relies on retrieval-based traceability elements and is used to transmit the results of independent tests performed to satisfy a business, product, or process requirement and in support of supply chain traceability.  Retrieval-based traceability data contained by Report of Test Results business message include the unique item identification as a data key, a product description, testing information, inspection data, certification data, and in some cases process control and other measurements, which might be required by industry.  Steel manufacturing, underground pipelines, utilities, are among those industries interested in supply chain traceability.  Textiles & apparel manufacturing companies are particularly interested in supply chain traceability for organic cotton and fiber traceability which must include retrieval-based traceability elements to be successful, RFID or EPCIS cannot manage it independently. 

The buyer’s internal catalog, requisition and approval processing

While supply chain traceability processes vary by organization, the exchange of Price/Sales Catalog business messages and the Report of Test Results business message are critical to the procurement process and particularly so in requisition and approval processes.  The procurement process may therefore begin with one or more approval workflows, workflows that rely on retrieval-based traceability elements stored in supply chain traceability solutions.  The approval process might include a requisition process and a Report of Test Results approval process.  Manufacturing companies may choose to purchase products and test them internally by leveraging internal labs or then send them out for independent testing to external labs in order to gather retrieval-based traceability elements.  Manufacturing companies may also require samples be sent by the supplier to independent laboratories at their own expense in order to gather retrieval-based traceability elements for supply chain traceability.  In either scenario, manufacturing companies will have to (1) be prepared to define an internal approval process for the purchase of trade goods and (2) be prepared to define to organize a procurement process to account for and track purchases, shipments and costs related to subsequent transactions in the calculation of total costs in their supply chain traceability solution. 

Ordering, Delivering, and Paying for the Goods

Manufacturing Companies today are likely to embark on a hype cycle endeavor, an endeavor which might include Generative AI, GDSN, RFID, block chain, or something which influencers have been conditioned to believe and promote and that manufacturing companies are likely to engage. 

Manufacturing Companies engaging in trade will most certainly leverage an ‘Order to Cash’ or ‘Procure to Pay’ process in the production of goods for sale.  These manufacturing companies, regardless of industry, should consider the extent to which retrieval-based traceability elements are present, stored, and available.   

Manufacturing companies regardless of industry must consider the extent to which their ‘Order to Cash’ or ‘Procure to Pay’ process includes supply chain traceability.   

If we believe the influencers, if we believe the hype, if we believe the days of a linear, one-direction supply chains are behind us and if we are to do our part as prescribed by these experts, then our supply chain traceability solutions must accommodate ‘Order to Cash’ or ‘Procure to Pay’ processes that include retrieval-based traceability elements. 

Built for industry experts, PartnerLinQ stands out as the premier supply chain platform that redefines supply chain traceability, digital connectivity, end-to-end visibility, and decision intelligence. PartnerLinQ’s innovation empowers real-time decision-making, fosters collaboration with business partners, and enhances predictability within complex multi-enterprise supply chain networks.  PartnerLinQ is where retrieval-based traceability elements are present, stored, and available out of the box, not as an afterthought but as a matter of practice. Harnessing the power of cloud technology, PartnerLinQ ushers in a new era of supply chain efficiency, optimization, and performance that improves your bottom-line, nurtures sustainable growth and includes supply chain traceability.

“Plastics” was the single word of business advice from a guest from an older generation to the young Dustin Hoffman in the movie, ‘The Graduate.’ One word that all at once seemed to describe every bit of the business knowledge the young graduate would need. Clean, tidy, packaged, and delivered with such precision that 55 years later, a faint social memory finds meaning in the attachment to that word.     

Today’s C-Suite executives have much more on their minds, often far-flung from memories of a film, far removed from a dated vision of a sterile, mindless office, a different view of business life that has emerged in the past 50 years. The 1960s view, brought about mainly by the values of a previous generation looking forward to a modern age and boring almost by definition, has emerged in today’s business environment. A far-reaching, multi-geographic, multi-cultural colossus of a business universe. Typically headquartered in a major city or strategically located, these businesses serve thousands of customers or handle millions of product combinations, shipping from multiple fulfillment centers and growing e-commerce brands. An entirely new definition of a business that could never be reduced to a single word of business advice delivered in a one-off conversation at a party delivered in a single word.  

The story of ‘The Graduate,’ instead of a message about business by way of a single word, is about change, systemic change where creating a stable and sustainable business environment in a complex business world is a real daily challenge. The stability we once thought of as an everyday casual occurrence has changed forever. If we have learned anything from the COVID-19 experience, it is this: nothing we held as fact is the fact any longer, no service that we perform, and no product that we buy, sell, ship, or deliver is protected, and nothing should be overlooked as we seek opportunities to gain a foothold or a business advantage in the “New Normal.”  

This brings us back to our current reality in the new world. A world where giants continue to emerge from increased consolidation even in far-flung markets deep in the interior of this and many other countries. Companies that began as simply as a man and his truck are now run by corporate boards and C-Suite executives who find themselves in Multi-Enterprise Supply Chain Business Networks (MESBN) with multiple companies to run and precious resources competing for funds. Where does one begin? Is it better to reduce costs or increase revenue? Which job gets tackled first, which takes precedent, or is there an opportunity for both? Is enterprise consolidation the first order of business, a process that could take years and resources, or is multi-enterprise collaboration the way to go? What about flexibility? Is there a way to tread on more than one path?  

When a business grows through extension, acquisition, and consolidation, outcomes vary, and results are mixed. Rarely does an extension, acquisition, or consolidation mean a ‘plug and play’ migration meaning that a migration path needs to be defined, and that becomes the responsibility of the C-Suite. Navigating the consolidation path, from ‘old’ to ‘new’ or several to one system, means critical thinking, tough decisions, and balance.  

What becomes necessary is a multi-enterprise collaboration networks and integration platform that supports multi-enterprise collaboration and migration at every stage of execution, whether your business has grown through extension, acquisition, or consolidation. The market at large prefers a solution that is popular with the world’s most recognized brands and leading vertically integrated producers, marketers, and distributors; and one that puts them in complete control of their B2B API & EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) supply chains and delivers end-to-end visibility, limitless flexibility, connectivity & control whether single or multiple enterprise environments exist.   

The market will inevitably reach for a platform that can help bridge the gaps during systemic migration and/or consolidation, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) to MRP, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) to CMS (Content Management System) makes a little difference. The solution must be compatible with most migration and/or consolidation efforts. The solution must increase supply chain resilience, flexibility, visibility, and control by increasing velocity and improving the ability to respond to gaps or disruption with confidential alerting and insight. The market will seek out a complete solution, sometimes by trial and error, working their way through several solutions over the years, and will seek a solution with extensive B2B API & EDI capabilities that put them in control of their multi-enterprise supply chain business networks. The key to selection is ensuring that the business can continue supporting the existing business while integrating new relationships with multi-enterprise business process enablement and intelligent planning & forecasting.  

The platform selected will use intelligent workflows that provide a robust and cohesive experience and help mitigate supply chain challenges by helping simulate the impact of internal and external drivers, then identify the next best action and help clients adjust the business plan accordingly. The selected platform will support enterprise users by coordinating business processes across multiple enterprises, environments, and solutions already in place.    

The most highly desired platform solutions to bring supply chain resilience will be highly scalable cloud-native multi-tenant multi-geography B2B API & EDI hyper-scalable high-performance SaaS (Software as a Service) platforms that integrate natively with client and partner ecosystems and e-commerce channels for meeting B2B API & EDI challenges. The most highly desired solutions will allow its clients to transform and extend their organization’s supply chain, customer, and partner ecosystem while unifying channels, boosting loyalty, accelerating and advancing collaboration, and turning acquisitions into assets.  

In short, multi-enterprise supply chain business network is essential to create supply chain resilience and connected supply chain ecosystem that can adapt to conditions in flux while continuing to meet customer demand by breaking down traditional silos. PartnerLinQ is committed to ensuring enterprise clients have the tools necessary to embrace collaboration and build supply chain resilience. Contact PartnerLinQ’s supply chain experts and explore how to transform your supply chain ecosystem to be more collaborative and agile.