Elephants have the longest gestation period of any land animal - some 22 months before the child is born. The development of the concept underpinning VisibleLogistics is not too dissimilar from this, in that the idea of a general purpose visibility platform was originally conceived back in 1985. Subsequent attempts to bring it into the world occurred in 1986, 1999, 2000 and 2006.

"Wake up and face reality" I can hear you shout... "After so many attempts haven't you got the message yet?" Sentiments I completely understand.

So why persist in pursuing the goal of providing a low cost supply chain visibility platform? Clearly it's not for the glamour, or so far, the rewards!

It's because I remain absolutely convinced that the existing means by which organisations communicate with their supply chain partners and customers can be transformed for the better. This is important because despite the changes in technology and the huge advances in productivity, many of the participants are trapped in a time warp by custom and practice.

For the uninitiated, a supply chain is the process by which stuff gets made and shipped to the customer. It is actually more like a network of suppliers and partners rather than a 'chain' and those organisations that are good at it, can get their stuff to market quicker and always have what you want in stock.

Logistics is more usually concerned with the physical movement of products and inventory (parts) within a specific organisation or supply chain.

Sure, a large number of enterprises have invested millions in sophisticated technology to do this, but there are very few that have 'changed the game' as far as the competition are concerned. Indeed, celebrated examples of best practice seldom involve innovative use of technology, rather they highlight how smart operational management and an intelligent use of assets (or asset disposals) can dramatically change business value.

From day one, we have been looking at how technology can make communication easier for every party in the supply chain. Especially those very small companies that sit in small niches in every manufacturing or fulfilment process. Companies that are specialists in their fields and without whom, high profile products and services can't happen.

These are the organisations that are often forgotten about by the business process engineers when they design the implementation plans for the latest IT mega-project. They tend not to reside in glamourous locations around the globe, shudder at the high costs of 'being IT enabled" and bemused by the consultant speak and techno babble that tells them "You are orthogonal to the mission goals unless you spend gazillions on the latest and greatest product".

Incidentally, the products in question are so valuable to the business, that the cost of hiring a large number of consultants to 'help them' install it may reduce the value of the business considerably. Still, no worries, the module to highlight that truth won't be installed for another 18 months yet!

We have designed our solutions for these people and their companies. We are trying to provide smart but simple solutions to everyday problems. On the surface they may seem trivial, but they have been designed to blend with the existing way people work, while creating the foundation for a more efficient approach to communication and collaboration at a pace they feel comfortable with.

In it's own way, a far more radical approach to these problems.