C.H. Robinson and SAS announced a partnership to rewrite the way global supply chains work as they become increasingly more complex. Until now, supply chain demand planning and shipping execution often worked in autonomous siloes without connection, digital integration, or real-time visibility. This partnership will solve that problem by creating a first-of-its-kind offering: an end-to-end supply chain solution that integrates inventory and demand signal data with real-time transportation data. Steering a supply chain from a centralized operation like this will allow companies more fluid adjustments in scheduling, carriers, and responses to changing consumer demand while inventory is still moving on the ground. Retail and CPG (consumer packaged goods) companies in North America will benefit first from this integration, although it is designed to eventually fill the gap between business and logistical planning across all industries. Within an integrated data loop, SAS triggers a demand plan which feeds into C.H. Robinson’s dynamic transportation procurement tool. In turn, that connects into the world’s large supply chain management platform, Navisphere, to provide real time visibility of inventory, which then links back and informs SAS’ Intelligent Planning suite. This means a retailer or maker of packaged goods, for example, can connect its corporate demand plans to products and freight on the move. They then can better react to real-time changes in demand, such as surge in consumer interest, and real-time changes in transportation factors, such as inclement weather.