Dennis Berman at the Wall Street Journal recently said analytics will change your day-to-day world more than you know. In his article, So, What’s Your Algorithm, he points out that computer systems are now so powerful they can harvest vast stores of data in real-time to make the decisions (or recommendations) for you to act upon. The article provides examples such as analyzing the credit worthiness of tens of millions of homeowners as well as how, by analyzing traffic flows, the system can tell a driver the most efficient route to take on any given day.

How far is this from reality?

It’s not. In fact, today’s supply chain software can analyze vast amounts of information about your network, your demand, your suppliers and customers, and your forecast. So why do so many companies still rely on manual, spreadsheet-driven operations? As the article points out, “We are ruined by our own biases. When making decisions, we see what we want, ignore probabilities, and minimize risks that uproot our hopes.” Basically, we want to believe we know best. And we do; however, it never hurts to have a little quantifiable help and analysis to support our management insights.

Supply chain analytics are driving substantial improvements in supply chain operations. I recently wrote a post, MEIO by the Numbers, which provides some great examples of how the science and algorithms in Logility Voyager Solutions are producing incredible results. The proof is all around us.