When Less is More: 6 Ways to Cut Through Supply Chain Noise and Focus on What Matters Most

By Dr. Iris Heckmann, VP Product Strategy & Industry Solutions

In my experience, the root cause of poor decision-making in supply chains is rarely the result of a lack of data. On the contrary, what I see in many organizations is the opposite: an overwhelming flood of signals, alerts, dashboards, and metrics that all claim to be urgent. But when everything feels urgent, nothing truly is.

That’s why I wasn’t surprised when I came across a statistic recently: 69% of companies report that their tech investments haven't delivered a strong ROI. At first glance, this might seem counterintuitive. Haven’t we been investing precisely to make our supply chains smarter and more resilient?

But numbers like these point to a deeper problem. We’ve become very good at collecting data,  but not at distinguishing between noise and actionable insight - while noise refers to the flood of alerts, anomalies, or signals that seem important but lack real relevance or urgency. And even before we get to that point, we spend significant effort just to understand whether the data is real, reliable, and consistent enough to be used at all. 

Gartner’s Market Guide for Analytics and Decision-Making Platforms in Supply Chain highlights an interesting trend: by 2029, 10% of global boards will use AI-generated guidance to challenge executive decisions. This shows just how central smart, context-aware decisions are becoming vital - not just on the operational floor, but all the way up to the boardroom.

So, what’s the way forward?

Rather than optimizing for “more data”, we should optimize for “better focus.” Six targeted strategies to help cut through the noise and focus on actionable insights:

1. Leverage Behavioral Engines. Modern supply chains are too dynamic for rigid rules. Advanced behavioral engines use a mix of analytical methods - from pattern recognition to scenario-based logic and optimization - to identify meaningful deviations and filter out irrelevant noise. It’s about understanding behavior in context, not just reacting to data spikes. 
2. Implement Automated Filtering & avoid alert fatigue. If teams are constantly reacting to minor fluctuations, they’ll be drained when real disruptions occur. Not all alerts are created equal. Automated filtering helps distinguish between routine variations and genuine disruptions by analyzing historical patterns and real-time context. This prevents alert fatigue and keeps teams focused on meaningful issues.
3. Deploy Predictive Analytics. One of the most powerful shifts is from reactive to proactive thinking. Predictive models allow you to anticipate potential issues before they become critical, understand patterns, simulate outcomes, and act early - instead of playing catch-up when it’s already too late.
4. Establish Smart Alerting Systems. Not every deviation is equally important. Smart alerting systems take timing, dependencies, and potential business impact into account - so when an alert does go out, it’s both relevant and actionable for the receiving team.
5. Prioritize Based on Business Impact. Focus is a finite resource. By establishing clear criteria for what’s mission-critical and what can wait, teams can stay aligned and avoid unnecessary firefighting while managing routine variations through established protocols.
6. Enable Intelligent Automation. The most effective way to reduce noise is to handle routine decisions automatically. Intelligent automation can manage standard variations while escalating only those decisions that require human judgment.

In a world of growing complexity, decision clarity is your most valuable asset. The goal isn’t to eliminate uncertainty, but to reduce the noise that clouds good judgment. AI and intelligent systems can support us in doing exactly that - if we let them.

If you're asking yourself how to make your supply chain not just more visible, but more “actionable,” it might be time to reframe the problem. Not more dashboards. Not more alerts. Just better signals - and the clarity to act on them.

Ready to turn down the noise in your supply chain? Learn how ParkourSC can help you focus on what matters most.