70% of organisations lack the capability to track carbon emissions in their supply chain, according to data from visibility platform Beacon

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: 70% of organisations lack the capability to track carbon emissions in their supply chain, according to data from visibility platform Beacon.

Beacon, the supply chain visibility and collaboration platform, has released its 2024 Supply Chain Visibility Capabilities Report examining the progress organisations are making on improving supply chain visibility.

The company has also launched ‘Beacon PowerScore’, a quick and comprehensive way to assess and benchmark your supply chain visibility capabilities against similar companies.

75  supply chain and logistics professionals were presented a series of true or false statements to understand their capabilities as it relates to three general themes of visibility: tracking, analytics and collaboration. 

Some key takeaways include: 

• An overwhelming 69.6% of respondents admitted to lacking the capability to accurately track and report on Scope 3 carbon emissions from freight transport, highlighting a significant gap in environmental reporting capabilities. 
• 43.5% of respondents report obstacles in ensuring seamless data sharing across supply chain actors      
• 37.7% of organisations lack a centralised platform for managing communication with partners, instead relying heavily on email, which remains the predominant form of communication within supply chains. 
• The connectivity problem extends to the realm of document management with 31.9% of respondents reporting difficulties with centralised storage and accessibility of logistics and compliance documents 

The results of the survey demonstrate three core areas of opportunity: advancing collaboration and connectivity between supply chain actors, improving carbon emissions reporting and managing the financial risks stemming from disruption and delays. 

Fraser Robinson, CEO of Beacon said “The 2024 Supply Chain Visibility Capabilities Survey reveals the continued struggles companies are having in streamlining how they interact and share information with the other actors in their supply chains. While in many cases we see organisations improving their data infrastructure, there remains a large opportunity around breaking down the communication and information silos that hinder supply chain resilience and agility."

Beacon has also launched ‘Beacon PowerScore’, a quick and comprehensive way to assess and benchmark supply chain visibility capabilities. Companies will receive a score from 0 to 100 based on their responses to a few true-or-false questions about freight tracking, collaboration and analytics capabilities.  Upon completing the quiz, respondents receive a free report benchmarking performance against industry peers, highlighting potential blind spots, and suggesting opportunities for improvement.