In recent years, many organisations have taken significant steps in professionalising their supply chains. Planning has become sharper, forecasts more reliable, and processes more tightly organised.
With solutions from companies like Microsoft Dynamics 365, RELEX Solutions [a] and Slimstock [b], something has emerged that was long out of reach: a sense of control.
But that feeling disappears the moment you ask the question that truly matters today: Where does this product actually come from?
And that is where things become uncomfortable. Most organisations still know their direct suppliers. Some even have a fair idea of the layer behind them. But further upstream, it quickly becomes unclear. And precisely there — where you can no longer properly follow the chain — is where the risks arise that are receiving so much attention today. Think of labour conditions, the origin of raw materials, and environmental impact.
Transparency is no longer a choice
Where transparency was once a moral ambition, it has now become a hard business requirement. The introduction of the CSDDD (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive) [1] has fundamentally changed the playing field. Since the full enforcement of this directive in 2025 and 2026, “not knowing” is no longer a valid excuse. It is straightforward: if you cannot monitor the chain down to the level of raw materials and deeper tiers (Tier 2, 3 and beyond), you face not only reputational risk but also legal and financial exposure.
The United Nations [2] has translated these challenges into the Sustainable Development Goals [3]. But the CSDDD forces organisations to turn these goals into concrete action. It mandates deep-dive supply chain investigations and, more importantly, the actual remediation of abuses such as forced labour and environmental harm.
The perverse incentive: the tax on transparency
What is becoming painfully clear is the enormous imbalance in responsibility. A widening gap is emerging that undermines the sustainability of the entire sector.
On one hand, there are the large organisations. They are being positioned by legislators and the public as the “scapegoats.” They invest millions in solutions, audits and reporting to make their extended supply chain visible. They build transparency, establish collaborations and collect data. They carry the full financial and legal burden of compliance.
On the other hand, there is a “grey market” of players sourcing globally without any transparency. They buy products or have them manufactured in Asian countries and bring them to market without any accountability regarding origin, conditions or composition.
This inequality makes sustainability fragile. Sustainability is not a label you attach to a product; it is the outcome of choices made across a network.
As long as the burden of compliance rests with the frontrunners while others remain under the radar, sustainability becomes a “tax on transparency”. And if you do not know your network, you simply cannot take responsibility for it.
The end of the internal focus
Most software solutions are designed to optimise internal operations. They focus on efficiency, cost and availability within the boundaries of the company itself. But supply chains do not respect organisational boundaries.
They run across borders, through suppliers who in turn depend on other suppliers. It is not a linear process. It is a network. And a network cannot be managed with systems that only look inward.
This is why we are now seeing a shift towards Multienterprise Collaboration Networks (MCN). According to Gartner [4], these are platforms that enable companies — regardless of industry or size — to collaborate across all layers of the chain.
The distinction is essential:
- ERP/APS optimise internal operations.
- PLM optimises product development.
- MCNs optimise relationships, information exchange, and governance between companies.
At its core, the point is simple. It is not enough to know the partners you work with directly. You must understand how the chain behind them is structured.
In practice, this means moving beyond loose integrations or endless spreadsheets towards a shared way of working in which you and your suppliers look at the same information. A way of working where you not only see what has been ordered, but also what is happening in production, where delays are emerging and where risks in the deeper layers of the chain are accumulating.
Companies like TradeBeyond [c] and Bamboo Rose [d] show how these networks are developing. This is especially visible in sectors where sourcing, product development and supplier collaboration come together. They address something that has been neglected for too long. They create grip on a chain that for years relied on assumptions and invisible dependencies.
Ultimately, it comes down to one thing
Knowing.
Knowing where your product comes from. Knowing under what conditions it was made. Knowing what impact it has beyond your own organisation.
Without that “knowing”, sustainability remains an ambition without a foundation. And compliance under the CSDDD becomes impossible.