More than ever, shippers expect their 3PL partners to provide systematic monitoring and reporting of goods in transit and in storage. In short, they need visibility into their freight, product and shipments — inbound and outbound. Likewise, in direct-to-consumer shipping, consumers want to know “where’s my stuff?”
As the supply chain becomes more complex, shippers and their 3PL partners acknowledge the need for greater visibility. Both 3PLs and shippers said they could be doing a better job of achieving visibility into their supply chains, according to the 2025 29th Annual 3PL Study which surveys several hundred shippers and 3PLs globally.
In fact, the 2025 3PL Study found the most-identified area in need of improvement is supply chain visibility, with a whopping 69% of shippers and 68% of 3PLs citing it as their biggest area in need of change.
Moves to digital supply chains and the advancement of AI are also highlighting the need to bring technology and visibility together in a bigger way. Both 3PLs and their shipper customers are still in the early stages of leveraging various technologies and strategies to offer a greater degree of supply chain visibility to their customers.
Here are some key approaches and tools for visibility:
Real-time tracking and monitoring
Many 3PLs use real-time tracking solutions to monitor shipments, providing customers with accurate and up-to-date information on the status and location of their goods.
Some 3PLs and their shipper customers are well established in using technologies like telematics devices (think GPS tracking on trucks) and sensors integrated with cloud platforms to track goods and their status in real-time. This allows for monitoring location, temperature, humidity and other critical factors.
Supply chain management systems
From planning, purchasing and delivery to load building, yard optimization, carrier and order management on through final delivery, a host of supply chain management systems – think ERP, WMS, TMS, OMS and many, many others — give a window into the supply chain. These solutions provide real-time data integration, inventory tracking, and other functionalities that enhance visibility and streamline operations. Many of these systems form the backbone of real-time monitoring.
The most advanced WMS solutions, for example, offer real-time visibility through features like inventory tracking, live order management and demand forecasting. Some 3PLs even offer customized software platforms that integrate with their customers’ systems, providing a unified view of the supply chain and enabling more seamless communication. (Which will bring us later to the final section of this blog on control tower visibility.)
Exception management
Having systems in place to identify and address exceptions or disruptions quickly is crucial. A number of types of supply chain management systems help supply chain professionals manage exceptions and respond proactively to potential trouble.
This means that when a problem arises—like a late shipment or a stockout—decisionmakers can take rapid corrective actions, such as rerouting shipments or reallocating stock from different warehouse locations.
Data analytics and demand forecasting
Data analytics and visualization tools are helping transform logistics data into actionable insights, enabling supply chain managers to make better informed decisions. With the lure of supply chain optimization and greater efficiencies, demand forecasting tools use historical and real-time data for accurate demand forecasting. These tools help supply chain managers make the necessary adjustments to production, inventory and shipping, for instance, to meet changing demand patterns and identify adjustments that need to be made.
Predictive analytics are used to forecast potential disruptions, allowing 3PLs to proactively mitigate risks and minimize the impact on shipments. The most advanced predictive analytics and demand forecasting systems leverage technologies such as AI, IoT and machine learning to analyze data for predicting demand and identifying potential disruptions and optimizing resource allocation. Examples of these functionalities include scenario modeling and alerting logistics managers about at-risk shipments or inventory thresholds.
Pivot to control tower visibility
The current state of visibility tools isn’t enough. The 2025 3PL Study noted that many shippers and 3PLs cited their visibility capabilities as clearly lacking. The quest seems to be on for end-to-end supply chain “control tower visibility.” In short, control tower visibility transforms logistics operations by providing a live, unified, actionable view of all goods movements and inventory.
According to IBM, control tower visibility is a connected, personalized dashboard of data, key business metrics and events across the supply chain. Control towers act as a hub, gathering and presenting data from disparate supply chain management systems (such as ERP, WMS and TMS, etc.) and parties in the supply chain.
This integration and centralization of data ultimately enables visibility over shipments, inventory flows, warehouse stock levels, order statuses, and a host of other variables into a single dashboard. In addition to real-time, end-to-end visibility, control towers provide predictive and prescriptive decision support and facilitate greater collaborative information sharing.
What does it take to get there? Siloed systems need to evolve from linear functions focused on the physical movement of goods to a connected ecosystem where data, end-to-end visibility and rapid decision-making determine success. And for obvious reasons, AI and machine learning play supporting roles to control tower visibility.
The current 3PL study identified shipper control tower visibility as a “must have.” And 55% of 3PL respondents in the 2025 3PL study suggest they already provide such technology. Interestingly, in the year prior’s study, some 50% of 3PLs said they had already invested or were currently investing in supply chain control-tower capabilities. In short, much is in the works to gain greater visibility into supply chains.