Beyond supply chain visibility: why organizations still struggle to respond effectively to disruption

According to IDC, 29% of supply chain leaders are prioritizing cost reduction and efficiency, while 25% are focused on improving supply chain resilience. Organizations are also targeting product compliance, quality and safety (20%), alongside modernizing IT infrastructure (19%).

These priorities are critical, but many organizations still lack a clear understanding of how disruption will affect operations, suppliers and customer commitments across the wider supply chain. Lead times are less predictable, supply networks are more concentrated, and disruption can affect multiple parts of the value chain at once.

As a result, organizations are being forced to make decisions earlier and under greater uncertainty. They often lack a clear view of downstream business impact, including cost exposure from duties, transport and labour, as well as procurement risk, inventory decisions and customer commitments.

Most organizations have visibility into direct suppliers or internal operations. But upstream dependencies, where disruption often begins, remain difficult to see. This includes indirect dependencies across materials, spare parts and upstream components that may appear disconnected, but can quickly become critical when supply conditions shift.

Planning, procurement, production and logistics also operate with different views of the supply chain, shaped by separate systems, data and assumptions.

As a result, supply chains often appear stable until they fail, with risk building in areas that are not fully understood. Data exists, but it is rarely connected in a way that reflects how the supply chain actually behaves under pressure.

Many organizations stall at this point. They can see disruption as it unfolds, but turning that visibility into action remains difficult, particularly when decisions depend on understanding how impact will move across the wider network.

Dynamic Supply Chain Intelligence becomes critical here. By combining connected data, AI-driven analysis, operational insight and scenario modelling, it creates a more complete and predictive view of supply chain risk.

By bringing together visibility, operational data and decision-making across the full value chain, Fujitsu helps organizations assess dependencies, understand downstream business impact and evaluate response options before disruption escalates. With that level of insight, teams can simulate how disruption could move through the supply chain, identify options such as available stock or alternative suppliers, and make faster, more informed decisions while conditions are still changing.

This becomes particularly important in indirect supply chains, where disruption often originates several tiers beyond direct suppliers. A shortage of machinery spare parts, specialist materials or critical upstream components can quickly affect production elsewhere in the network, even when the immediate supplier appears stable. The difficulty is knowing which dependencies sit on the critical path at any given moment, and how quickly action needs to be taken.

With connected intelligence across the supply chain, Fujitsu helps organizations assess which production lines are exposed, how inventory will be affected across locations, and whether reallocation or alternative supply is possible within the required timeframe. They can model disruption scenarios, evaluate operational and financial trade-offs and make decisions based on operational impact rather than assumption.

It is spread across platforms, sites and operating units. Inventory may be structured differently by location, and often supplier information may be incomplete. Key inputs may still sit in spreadsheets or require manual updates.

AI and advanced analytics help by connecting and structuring operational, procurement and financial data across functions. In practice, they make it possible to work from a more consistent view of the supply chain and understand how changes in one area affect the rest.

Organizations do not need perfect data to begin. What matters is making existing data usable enough to support decisions. Fujitsu works with manufacturers to connect fragmented operational, procurement and financial data, helping model downstream business impact and support faster decision-making under disruption.

Solution:

• Fujitsu helped integrate fragmented data across the organization using AI-driven AutoML and data intelligence capabilities, creating a clearer view of inventory, procurement and operational impact across the supply chain.
• The solution used five years of sales data to build 300 predictive models, improving demand forecasting and procurement visibility
• This created a more connected view of inventory and operations, supporting faster, more informed decisions during disruption

Impact:

• More than 200,000 inventory parts identified and visualized within two weeks
• Accurate inventory visibility supported faster decision-making and improved supply chain efficiency across the organization
• Improved ability to maintain production and respond effectively to disruption, including natural disasters
• Transparent and highly manageable operations, driving annual savings of over €10 million

Further insight

Watch how this manufacturer improved supply chain visibility across 200,000+ inventory parts

Better visibility and Supply Chain Intelligence also help organizations operate more efficiently across the wider business. More accurate inventory positioning can reduce excess stock and release working capital. Faster, more informed decisions improve reliability and reduce operational waste and with a clearer understanding of demand, supply and risk, organizations can focus resources more effectively while maintaining service and production levels under pressure.

That requires a clearer understanding of how disruption moves through the supply chain, where dependencies exist, and which decisions will have the greatest operational impact.

At this stage, Supply Chain Intelligence becomes a way to focus action across planning, procurement, production and logistics. Historical data alone provides a rear-facing view of supply chain performance. Rather than relying on past performance alone, organizations need to combine real-time and predictive signals with operational data, external risk signals, AI-driven analysis and scenario modelling. Fujitsu enables organizations to better understand how disruption will affect production, inventory, suppliers and customer commitments before issues escalate. This makes it possible to evaluate trade-offs, assess alternative responses and make faster, more informed operational decisions under changing conditions.

It also enables organizations to operate more precisely under pressure by improving inventory positioning, reducing excess stock, and making better use of constrained supply across the network.

Solution:

• Fujitsu implemented its Supply Chain Risk Visualization service to provide a clearer view of supplier plants and disruption risks
• The solution mapped supplier plant locations alongside disaster information, helping teams assess potential impact more quickly
• Automated disaster notifications were introduced for registered suppliers, supporting faster awareness and response

Impact:

• Significant reduction in initial response time
• Improved visibility of potential risks at manufacturing sites, supporting faster contingency planning
• Easier identification of overseas disasters through an integrated Supply Network Strategy (SNS) feature
• Stronger ability to understand supply chain disruption impact and respond before issues escalate

Solution:

• Lowe’s Innovation Labs worked with Fujitsu on an AI-driven optimization proof of value
• The solution combined machine learning and advanced optimization to smooth inventory flows and improve resource use across the logistics network

Impact:

• 30% reduction in peak inventory arrivals during proof-of-concept testing
• 10% efficiency gains from proof-of-concept testing
• Better product availability on shelves, fewer out-of-stock situations and more reliable delivery times for customers

Many organizations begin with a specific operational challenge, product line or site before scaling intelligence across the wider supply chain.

The organizations responding most effectively to disruption are not necessarily those with the most data. They are the ones best able to understand operational impact, align decisions across the business, and act before disruption affects production, delivery or customer commitments.

EU Digital Factory Self-Assessment Tool:

https://mkt-europe.global.fujitsu.com/digital-factory-self-assessment-tool