70% of Companies Operate in Silos. Here’s How to Break Free.

Does your day feel like a constant battle against disconnection? You’re tracking down missing shipment updates, chasing conflicting numbers from your different supply chain departments, and doing far too much manual work in Excel. It’s not just you, our recent Digital Supply Chain Survey confirmed it: 70% of companies still operate in functional silos.

This creates a frustrating paradox. The same survey revealed that the tools are in place: 96% of companies have an ERP and 83% use a WMS. Regarding the software that’s in place (these are just two examples), the main frustration remains that all systems feel disconnected. But why?

The answer lies in the integration gap. Our data shows that less than half of these systems are truly integrated and talking to each other. This gap is the technical root cause of your organisational silos, turning your tech stack from a potential "central nerve system" into a collection of isolated islands.

Breaking free from this cycle requires more than another piece of software. It requires a strategic plan to build a truly connected digital backbone. Here is a practical, three-step guide to get you started.

Step 1: Assess Your Current Supply Chain Landscape

Before you can build a bridge, you must understand the terrain. The first step is to create an honest and detailed map of your existing systems and their limitations. Don't just list the software; analyse its compatibility and identify the real-world gaps in automation and data flow.

Ask your teams:

Where are you forced to manually export data from one system to an Excel sheet to upload it into another?
Which reports take hours or days to compile because the data lives in different places?
Where do conflicting numbers most often appear?

This assessment will give you a clear, evidence-based picture of your most critical integration weaknesses, the ones causing the most daily friction and manual work.

Step 2: Define Your System Requirements Based on Business Priorities

With a clear view of your current landscape, you can define what your future state needs to achieve.

Our survey showed that the highest priorities for improvement are in Demand & Supply Planning (a top priority for 78% of companies) and Logistics & Distribution (64%). Use this focus to guide your requirements.

nstead of asking "How do we connect everything?", ask:

What specific data needs to flow seamlessly to improve our forecast accuracy?
What real-time visibility (inventory, transport, order status) do our logistics teams need to move from reactive to proactive?

By defining requirements based on your biggest business pains and priorities, you ensure that every integration effort delivers tangible value.

Step 3: Design Your Future Architecture

Now you can start building your connected architecture. This doesn't necessarily mean replacing everything. The solution is often a smart combination of optimising what you have and adding what you need. Your options include:

Optimise or Upgrade: Can your existing systems be enhanced with modern modules or APIs to close the gaps you identified in Step 1?
Introduce New Platforms: If a core capability is missing, a specialised, best-of-breed platform might be the right choice to fill that specific need.
Deploy Integration Layers (iPaaS): To unify your existing systems, modern Integration Platforms as a Service (iPaaS) can act as a central hub. They allow your legacy systems and new cloud platforms to communicate effectively, creating that unified flow of data.

From Supply Chain Silos to a Single Source of Truth

Breaking free from the 70% is a strategic journey that transforms your supply chain from a series of disconnected functions into a single, cohesive organism. It’s the foundational work required to eliminate manual workarounds, enable proactive decision-making, and build the end-to-end visibility you need to compete.

At Upchained, we don't just identify the gaps; we help you build the bridges. We support your digital roadmap from assessment to architecture, helping you choose the right platforms for your unique business needs.

Ready to break down the walls and connect your systems?